MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A National Player of the Year. Four national championships. Numerous school records. Meritorious service to the athletic department and the university. A plethora of school records. Numerous All-Conference honors. All of those accolades, and many more, are part of what makes up Auburn University at Montgomery's 2024 Hall of Fame Class.
Jatoria Carter (women's basketball), Vignir Johannesson (men's soccer), Brad Moody (meritorious service), Taylor Powell (softball), and Rolando Vargas (coach - men's and women's tennis) have been selected as the 15th Hall of Fame Class in the history of the AUM Athletics Department. The Class of 2024 will officially be inducted on Saturday, March 23, 2024 in a ceremony held on AUM's campus.
Below is a look at the 2024 AUM Athletics Hall of Fame inductees:
Jatoria Carter (Women's Basketball, 2013-2016)
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association's NAIA Player of the Year as a senior in 2015-2016, Carter ranks as one of the most prolific players the program has ever seen. Carter, who averaged 20.7 points, 5.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 steals as a senior, is the school's 15th all-time leading scorer despite playing at AUM for just two seasons after transferring to play for the Warhawks. Carter posted 1,091 career points and was a NAIA First Team All-American as a senior to go along with an honorable mention All-American honor as a junior. As a senior, Carter collected Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and First Team All-Conference accolades. She was also a First Team All-Conference performer as a junior for the Warhawks and was named the SSAC Newcomer of the Year. She helped AUM to its most-recent national tournament appearance, an NAIA First Round contest in 2015-16. Carter averaged 16.8 points, 4.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.6 steals per game for her career. She led the NAIA in steals as a senior with 126, which set a new school record for a single season. She also ranks fifth in the AUM record book in career steals (233), seventh in free throws made (274), and eighth in scoring average (16.8). Carter scored in double figures in 53 of her 65 games and also appears in the top 10 in single-season steals (first, 126), free throws made (second, 159), assists (sixth, 168), field goals made (241), and points (seventh, 683).
Vignir Johannesson (Men's Soccer, 2011-2013)
Johannesson helped lead the Warhawks to a national tournament runner-up finish in 2013 and the tournament quarterfinals in 2012. The fifth-leading saves man in the history of the program with 244 career saves, Johannesson also ranks second in career minutes played (5,609), seventh in goals-against-average at (1.40), and third in shutouts (15). He was a First-Team All-Conference selection in his junior and senior seasons, and was a second team all-league performer as a sophomore. He was a Second-Team NAIA Men's Soccer All-American as a senior and was also named to the NSCAA/Continental Tire NAIA All-South Region team that same season. Johannesson was also a First-Team NAIA All-American as a junior. His 92 saves in 2012 ranked tied for 10th in a single-season, and he posted three of the top nine season highs in goalkeeper minutes (third, fifth, and ninth). His 10 shutouts in the 2012 campaign also ranks second in a single-season for an AUM goalkeeper. In addition to helping lead the team to two national tournament appearances in his three seasons, he helped the squad to the 2012 SSAC tournament championship and a 45-16-8 overall record while he was on the roster.
Dr. Brad Moody (Meritorious Service - Posthumous Election)
Moody began at AUM as an assistant professor of political science and public administration in 1972 and was an integral part of building the foundation for AUM's College of Sciences, Department of Political Science, and Masters of Public Administration program. Moody's dedication to the university led him to serve in numerous roles on campus throughout his career. He was a member of the Faculty Senate, Institutional Review Board, and President of the Faculty Council. He also served as interim dean of AUM's College of Sciences and Chair of the Department of Political Science. Moody's service stretched into athletics as well, as he served as both a college representative and a committee chair on the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee for many years. He spent time in his retirement being a scorekeeper and statistician for AUM Basketball. He and his wife were longtime supporters of the athletics programs and women's basketball in particular, as they served as a "foster" parent to Sanna Hardin, a former AUM basketball player from Finland.
Taylor Powell (Softball, 2013-2016)
A multi-time All-American and the 2016 Southern States Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year, Powell helped lead the Warhawks to a pair of national titles and a 188-36 record during her career. In total, Powell helped AUM to four NAIA National Tournament appearances, four Opening Round Championships, and four NAIA World Series appearances. Powell was a First-Team NAIA and NFCA All-American in 2016 and was an honorable mention All-American in 2014. She was also a two-time NFCA First-Team All-South Region selection and a three-time all-conference performer (first team in 2014 and 2016; second team in 2015). Powell was a seven-time SSAC Pitcher of the Week and was the 2016 SSAC tournament Most Valuable Player and helped the squad to the team's first SSAC title in school history. Powell tossed six and two-thirds innings in the 2014 winner-take-all NAIA National Championship game against William Carey, her first appearance in the circle during the World Series and first outing in 16 days. Powell, who threw a pair of no-hitters and combined on a third, threw a school-record 53 2/3 scoreless innings during her senior campaign (Feb. 13 to March 6, 2016). She also started her career with a 29 and two-thirds scoreless innings streak to begin her collegiate career as a freshman. Powell closed out her career with a 79-10 record, a 1.34 earned run average, 53 complete games, 26 shutouts, five saves, and 619 strikeouts in 580 and one-third innings. She holds the single-season school record for complete games (29) and innings pitched (250) during the 2016 season. Powell's banner senior season produced the program's second-best shutout total (16), strikeout total (301) and earned run average (0.73). She also tied the school record with 35 victories in 2016, and her 22 wins in 2014 rank fourth. In the career record book, she ranks second in shutouts and wins (79), tied for second in appearances (108), third in strikeouts (620), complete games (53), ERA (1.38), innings pitched (580 1/3), and fourth in saves (6). She also added 231 career at bats, posting a .264 batting average 13 doubles, 11 home runs, and 51 runs batted in.
Rolando Vargas (M/W Tennis Coach, 2010-2017)
290 match victories. Sufficed to say, Vargas' tenure leading the Warhawks tennis programs was a successful one. The Warhawks went 150-35 (.811 winning percentage) in his tenure on the women's side, and posted a record of 140-37 (.791 winning percentage) on the men's side. Vargas led the Warhawk women's team to three consecutive NAIA National Championships (2011, 2012, 2013) and added a fourth in 2015. His women's teams also earned one semifinal appearance and one quarterfinal appearance. The 2011 National Championship-winning team, coached by Vargas, also holds the unique distinction of being crowned national champs despite starting every match down 2-0 due to having only five players. On the men's side, the Warhawks finished as national runners-up and also made three semifinals appearances and two quarterfinal appearances at the national tournament. Vargas was elected women's tennis Coach of the Year in the NAIA in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015, and was a seven-time SSAC Coach of the Year between both programs. He was also selected the 2016 United States Professional Tennis Association College Coach of the Year. Vargas coached 57 NAIA All-Americans, 30 ITA All-Americans, 10 Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete honorees, and 10 SSAC Players of the Year. He also coached three SSAC Newcomers of the Year and seven SSAC Freshmen of the Year. He also helped the programs earn their first NCAA Division II national and regional rankings in 2017.
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