Falcon Football Player Garners National High School Scholar-Athlete Award
10/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 12, 2009
DALLAS, Texas - The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced today the selection of five exceptional individuals as the best and the brightest in the country for their accomplishments as athletes, scholars and citizens in high school, naming them as the NFF National High School Scholar-Athletes for 2009. Air Force football freshman Gavin Mills was one of the five recipients. Mills is currently a member of the Falcon football junior varsity team.
Mills was one of five selected from 400,000 high school football players, chosen as the best of the best for their combined academic and athletic excellence in the country. He was a graduate of Powell High School in Powell, Wyo.
A team captain his junior and senior year, Mills earned first team all-state and all-conference honors for three consecutive years. In 2007, he was named the Class 4-A Defensive Player of the Year. As a wide receiver, Mills made 66 receptions for 905 yards and 17 touchdowns. As a free safety, 67 unassisted tackles, 103 assisted tackles, 11 pass break-ups, 11 pass interceptions and three fumble recoveries over his career.
The valedictorian of his class, Mills tallied a 4.0 GPA and scored 27 on his ACT. A three-year member of the National Honor Society, he claimed the Distinguished Scholastic Achievement Award and the Wyoming Coaches Association Academic Award all four years of his high school career.
An outstanding leader, Mills was student body president his senior year and class president his junior year. Active in his church he was a Sunday school teacher and member of the youth group music team. Mills also volunteered for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Heartland Assisted Living facility and the community food drive.
