AU ROUNDUP: Mills leads AU past Illinois

Auburn junior A.J. Mills captured her first all-around title of the season with two first place finishes as Auburn defeated Illinois, 195.825-193.225, on Friday.

“We are really proud of the way the team competed this evening,” said Auburn head coach Jeff Thompson. “We came away with an excellent home score and renewed confidence heading into a tough road meet at No. 13 Denver on Sunday.”

Mills placed first on floor with a career-high 9.900. She claimed the uneven bars title with a 9.875. Mills placed third on vault and beam.

“Tonight was a true group effort with A.J. Mills shining as our brightest star,” Thompson said. “It’s great to know that we have four different individuals in (Krissy) Voss, Mills, (Lindsey) Puckett and (Julie) Dwyer that can lead the rest of the team, although our event specialists were the reason we did so well tonight.”

One Tiger competes on first day of indoor finals
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships kicked off Friday with the women’s pentathlon and the first day of the men’s heptathlon. It was a light day of action for Auburn, with just one student-athlete competing.

Sophomore Jager Livingston stands in 12th place in the heptathlon after four events with 2499 points. Livingston is just 197 points behind the eighth-place competitor, with a chance to earn points for Auburn during the final day of competition.

The shot put and long jump proved to be the best events for Livingston on Friday, as he finished ninth in each event, with a mark of 11.05m (36-3) in the shot put and 1.78m (5-10) in the high jump. He was also 11th in the long jump and 15th in the 60m. The final three events — 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1000m — will take place on Saturday.

AU golf, cheerleaders read to students
Five members of the Auburn men’s golf team and assistant coach Ryan Cabbage as well as 10 Auburn University Cheerleaders served as guest readers during Auburn Early Education Center’s annual “Read Across America Day” on Friday.

Rosson Anderson, Jamie Bowen, Steven Groover, Jay Moseley and Keith White selected books that had special meaning to them prior to each reading to a separate class of kindergarten children. Alabama Education Association’s 2008 Read Across Alabama campaign featured Auburn University’s Aubie and University of Alabama’s Big Al on their posters to promote reading in every Alabama elementary school classroom.

Softball splits two games in tournament
COLUMBUS, Ga. — The Auburn softball team split its first two games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, defeating Georgia Tech, 3-2, in the first game of the day and losing to Winthrop, 1-0, in the last game.

The Tigers upped their record to 13-2 on the season. Auburn continues play today with a 12:30 p.m. game against Charlotte and a 5:30 p.m. game against Massachusetts.

Against Georgia Tech, Anna Thompson threw her fifth complete game as the Tigers beat the Yellow Jackets. Thompson (7-1) retired 12 batters in a row and fanned 10 in seven innings.

Women’s tennis takes first conference win
The No. 29 Auburn women’s tennis team (8-2, 1-0 SEC) captured its first conference win, 4-3, over the No. 26 Arkansas Lady’Backs (7-5, 0-1 SEC) on Friday.

Whitney Chappel clinched the match for Auburn and sophomore Fani Chifchieva extended her winning streak to nine matches with her win over No. 2 Aurelija Miseviciute.

“The team should be very proud of themselves today,” said Auburn head coach Tim Gray. “They came mentally prepared for this match and they stayed focused. They fought hard and came back with a win. I am so proud of our team today.”

Equestrian team heads west for two matches
The Auburn equestrian team travels to Fresno, Calif., to face Fresno State today and New Mexico State on Sunday.

“We don’t know much about Fresno State’s horses and riders,” said Auburn head coach Greg Williams. “We are looking forward to traveling, but are expecting stiff competition from both teams.”

The Tigers are 8-2 on the season with their last wins coming against Baylor and Oklahoma State. The Bulldogs are 2-3 on the season with their last loss coming against Baylor, whom Auburn defeated, 10-7, on Feb. 16.