Being an Auburn student-athlete is a big deal. It takes a special kind of dedication. Auburn has produced some of the best athletes in the world. Gold medalists. Heisman Trophy winners. MVPs.
Being an Auburn engineer is a big deal. It takes a special kind of dedication. Auburn has produced some of the best engineers in the world. Astronauts. Inventors. CEO of the world’s first trillion-dollar company.
So… to be both? To be able to summon that level of skill and commitment and passion and discipline? Well, there’s work, there’s hard work. And then there’s the work required to be an Auburn Engineering student-athlete.
Here are some stories about those putting in the hardest work of all, who are living out the “Therefore” in the Auburn Creed in ways few others do.
Mason Mathias — Fluid mechanics
If George Petrie was alive today, he’d probably agree — Mason Mathias really took all that stuff about education and clean sports to heart.
The senior swimmer from Leeds chose Auburn because it was the best of both worlds. And he conquered both of them.
Five All-American honors. He holds the Auburn record in the 500-yard freestyle, and ranks 11th nationally. Plus, the second-fastest time in school history in the 1,000-yard freestyle.
But the numbers he’s logged out of the pool are even more impressive. We’re not talking just a semester. Not just a year. That cumulative 4.0 GPA? It spans his entire academic career — at least so far.
“Well, I still have a few tough classes to go that could change things, but I’m not going down without a fight,” he said. “We’ll see if it lasts.”
The Southeastern Conference didn’t need to wait around to see.
In fact, the folks in charge of naming the 2024-25 SEC Men’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year probably had it easier than ever — Mason Mathias, hands down.
It isn’t the first academic distinction for the freestyle phenom — nowhere close.
Mathias earned All-SEC Second Team honors twice (2023-24), was a three-time College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America Scholar All-American (2022-24) and achieved College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American status in 2024.
Then, there are the three Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll selections (2022-24) and two CSC Academic All-District Team awards (2023-24).
And, well, there may be more in store.
After graduation, Mathias is considering taking a year to work in industry before diving into grad school. Where? At the moment, he’s not sure.
But he’s pretty positive — Auburn will be in contention.
“At Auburn, I felt like I could achieve highly in the pool and in the classroom because of what Auburn Engineering has to offer,” he said. “I believe that now more than ever, so staying here would be kind of a no-brainer.”
Emma Grace Boyd — Finding balance
Her best score so far is a 9.825 on the uneven bars against the University of Georgia, the other big school that recruited her.
But talk to Emma Grace Boyd for five minutes, and it’s obvious: a Perfect 10 is coming. If not in gymnastics — though she is that good — then in the real world. The Orlando-hailing sophomore in biosystems engineering already has her eyes locked on the spot, and she’s doing everything necessary to stick the landing. The field she wants. The role she wants. It’s awesome to behold.
“My dad, Stan Boyd, went to Auburn. He played baseball for two years and majored in biochemistry. He’s in water treatment, which sparked my interest in biosystems engineering,” Boyd said. “Water treatment is a stable and growing industry. I’m interested in sales. Engineering will be a great background for that, and gymnastics has taught me the things necessary to get there.”
Things like commitment. Things like planning, not trying to cram. Things like being on time, which means showing up 15 minutes early. To practice, to class, to everything, social life included. You’d expect a gymnast to know a thing or two about balance. You’d expect an engineer to know a thing or two about efficiency. Her approach to each 24 hours, especially given what she does with them, is next level.
“Over the years, and especially since coming to Auburn, I’ve figured out my workflow,” she said. “I’ve learned how much time I need for work and how much time I need to set aside for breaks from school and the gym. That’s really how I manage.”
Jenna Sapong — Keeping goals
Jenna Sapong doesn’t wait around. She goes after it. Take her most memorable game. She surrendered one goal, but after that nothing got past her. It would have been nice for it to have been in the SEC Championship. Or the NCAAs. But, you know, doing it while representing Ghana — she has dual citizenship — in the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup was cool, too.
But taking the initiative isn’t just the way the mechanical engineering sophomore plays soccer. It’s the way she lives. Take her recruitment process.
“Mine was a bit different than most people,” said Sapong, who is from Johns Creek, Georgia. “I wasn’t committed by my senior year of high school. I applied to Auburn because, I mean, the engineering school is amazing, one of the best. And then, once I got in, I just emailed the coaches and said, ‘Hey, I have some film, come watch me play.’ And then, I had a couple of calls with the coaches. They came to watch me play at a showcase, and they liked what they saw.”
Sapong liked what she saw, too.
“I went on a visit and loved it here basically before the tour even began,” she said. “When I saw the engineering buildings, it was just amazing.”
Ultimately, Sapong spent most of her time in Wiggins Hall, paying special attention to biomechanics.
Currently, she’s eyeing a career in the biomedical field. She’s thinking of looking into Auburn’s Business-Engineering-Technology minor. And she wants to get an MBA.
“I don’t think I want to continue playing soccer professionally,” she said, “Once I reach my potential in college, I think I’ll be satisfied. I just want to work hard for the next three years, but who knows, things could change.”
And, of course, Ghana could come calling again.
“You know, I did redshirt my freshman year. So, yeah, I do have that fifth year of eligibility,” she said. “Maybe I could play while doing my master’s. That would be fun. But after that, I just want to get a job, start working and make money.”
Shelby Balding — The ambassador
She’ll be honest. Growing up in Denver, Shelby Balding had never heard of Auburn, not really.
Now, she can’t stop talking about it.
As a Cupola Engineering Ambassador, the civil engineering junior is tasked with selling Auburn Engineering to prospective students. Of all her pursuits — class, cross country, juggling — that’s the easiest. She just puts herself back in their shoes. When it was time to start looking at schools in 2022, Auburn University caught her eye. It had engineering. It had cross country. And it just had… something else. Something she hadn’t seen elsewhere, or at least not on her first visit. The family had flown to an Ivy League school. It wasn’t a love connection.
Down in Alabama, on the other hand, sparks flew.
“When I visited Auburn, it was just awesome. I loved the team, and then I took the engineering tour,” she said. “I could just tell how much the faculty cared about their students, and about where they’d wind up.”
As for where she’ll wind up? It’s still to be determined — at least in the long term.
“I’m not exactly sure what I want to do with my degree,” she said. “Sometimes I think I’d be more interested in structures. Then I’ll think I’d like to do something with water quality.”
But at least for the summer, it’s off to Juneau for a bridge inspecting internship with Alaska’s Department of Transportation. The civil and environmental department sent her an email advertising the opportunity.
Balding clicked immediately.
“That’s actually a perfect example of the support you’ll get here,” she said. “If you’re a student-athlete and come to Auburn, you get that southern feel and sense of family. You get nice weather. You get to play spike ball out on Samford Lawn.
“But you’ll also get a university that’s really serious about athletics while also pushing you to be the best student you can be and giving you the support to make that happen.”
