The Aurora University Athletic Department announced its 2011-2012 male and female Athletes of the Year. The awards, as voted on by staff members of the AU Athletic Department, will be presented to senior baseball student-athlete Tim Mackey
(Rosemont, Ill./East Leyden H.S.) and junior softball student-
athlete Tristan Wilcox (Lafayette, Ind./ McCutcheon H.S.).
Additionally, senior softball student-athlete Maggie Cooper
(Indianapolis, Ind./Scecina H.S.) received the Chris Thompson Award, while senior football student-athlete Adam Siwicki
(Momence, Ill./Momence H.S.) received the Richard Rickey Award. The Thompson and Rickey Awards are given to senior male and female student-athletes who exemplify the characteristics of dedication, determination, sportsmanship and faith throughout the academic year.
The 2012 AU Male Athlete of the Year, Mackey graduated with a bachelor's degree in business and marketing with a minor in professional sales. In his senior season as a Spartan, Mackey finished as a highly decorated student-athlete, being named the 2011-2012 Northern Athletics Conference Man of the Year, CoSIDA-Capital One Third-Team Academic All-America, Academic All-District, Northern Athletics Conference Second-Team All-Conference, NAC All-Sportsmanship Team, D3baseball.com Third-Team All-American, ABCA/Rawlings and D3baseball.com Second-Team Midwest All-Region. He finished the 2012 baseball season leading AU in hitting with a .391 average, 79 hits, 59 runs scored, 32 runs batted in, 19 doubles, two triples and five home runs.
The AU baseball team finished the 2012 season by tying a school record with a 38-10 overall record. With an 18-4 Northern Athletics Conference record, AU captured the 2012 NAC Championship, the school's first in the NAC in baseball and 21st in program history. AU also won the NAC Tournament title and made the program's 20th appearance in the NCAA tournament.
In his four-year career, Mackey had a career batting average of .376 with 145 runs scored, 94 runs batted in, 33 doubles, four triples, nine home runs and 79 stolen bases in 132 games played. His 79 stolen bases total is two behind teammate Josh Davidson
for the Spartan career record. A four-time NAC Scholar-Athlete, Mackey was named to the NAC All-Sportsmanship team each of the last three seasons, and as a junior was named NAC First-Team All-Conference, Second-Team All-Region and CoSIDA-Capital One Second-Team Academic All-District.
The 2012 AU Female Athlete of the Year, Wilcox finished her junior season as a Spartan being named a Second-Team Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region member and First-Team Northern Athletics Conference All-Conference. On the year, Wilcox finished with a team-high .429 average with seven home runs, 11 doubles, 23 runs scored and 29 runs batted in. She had a .657 slugging and .484 on-base percentage. Defensively, she had a 1.000 fielding percentage and caught seven runners stealing in 19 attempts. The Spartan softball team finished 2012 with a 26-17 record and finished in second place in the NAC.
