Toth honored at Salute to the Champions banquet

Chris Toth was among the athletes honored at the Salute to the Champions banquet Feb. 21 at the Town and Country Hotel in San Diego.

The San Diego Hall of Champions' annual banquet honors the previous year's professional, amateur, and high school stars of the month as well as stars of the year and inductees into the Breitbard Hall of Fame.

Toth, who graduated from Fallbrook High School in 2007 and is currently the primary goalkeeper for the San Diego Sockers, was recognized for his January 2016 Professional Star of the Month award.

"It's cool being honored in San Diego," said Toth. "It's always a special thing."

Toth faced 125 shots during January 2016 and saved 92 of those. The Sockers ended that month with a three-game winning streak, and Toth made 62 saves during those three games.

"It's well deserved," said Sockers coach Phil Salvagio.

A selection committee at the Hall of Champions studies statistics and achievements. In addition to collecting statistics, Hall of Champions staff members speak with coaches and athletic directors in the case of high school athletes, to obtain recommendations.

The awards committee reviews the lists of recommendations to select the stars of the month. Toth, San Antonio Spurs and former San Diego State University basketball player Kahwi Leonard, and Michael Sgarbossa of the American Hockey League's San Diego Gulls were the three Professional Star of the Month recipients for January 2016.