Empire 8 Torchbearer Award
The Empire 8 Torchbearer Award, which was implemented in 2021, is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average (GPA) participating in the Empire 8 Championship game (or is a team that finishes in the top-two for multi-team championship events) for each sport.
To be eligible for the Empire 8 Torchbearer Award, a student-athlete must be a junior or senior and in at least their second season of competition with their current team. Graduate students are not eligible. The individual with the highest GPA that advances to the finals is honored on site during the Championship awards ceremony for each sport.