The Aurora University Athletic Department announced its 2012-2013 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 softball student-athlete Tristan Wilcox (Lafayette, Ind./ McCutcheon H.S.) and sophomore men's lacrosse student-athlete Max Obriecht (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North H.S.) .
Wilcox received the top honor for the second consecutive season. She finished her senior season as a Spartan being named First-Team Northern Athletics Conference All-Conference and a First-Team Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Region member. On the year, Wilcox finished with a .417 average, including a team-leading 13 home runs, 14 doubles, 36 runs scored and 49 runs batted in on the season. She had a .813 slugging and .520 on-base percentage. Defensively, Wilcox had a .984 fielding percentage and caught 13 runners stealing in 25 attempts.
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AU softball finished the 2013 season in the NCAA Division III Angola Regional, the Spartans 15th trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1982. The Spartans won a school record 25 straight games.
Obriecht finished his sophomore season with several accolades. He was named Laxpower.com Honorable Mention All-American as a midfielder and Midwest Lacrosse Conference Offensive Player of the Year, in addition to being a First-Team All-Conference selection. He led the Spartans with 53 goals while dishing out 32 assists. He had five man-up goals and went 223-of-347 in faceoff opportunities.
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The AU Â men's lacrosse team finished the 2013 season with a school record for wins and a 16-4 overall record. The Spartans made their first appearance in the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championships in the third season of play for the program and went to the Sweet 16. AU was the 2013 regular season and tournament champions in the Midwest Lacrosse Conference and went 10-0 in the MLC regular season.
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Additionally, senior volleyball student-athlete Jess Barney (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville H.S.) received the Chris Thompson Award, while senior men's soccer student-athlete Xavier Carrillo (Tempe, Ariz./McClintock H.S.) received the Richard Rickey Award. The Thompson and Rickey Awards are given to senior female and male student-athletes who exemplify the characteristics of dedication, determination, sportsmanship and faith throughout the academic year.
