Aurora University and the athletic department announced the 2016-2017 recipient of the Spartan Man of the Year Award. The honor has been bestowed upon recent AU graduate Will Bradshaw.
The Spartan Man of the Year award honors a graduating male student-athlete athletes who has exhausted his eligibility and distinguished himself throughout their collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.
Bradshaw captured the top Spartan athletics honor following a tremendous collegiate career for the men's lacrosse program. He was a three-time captain and as a senior was named a United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Scholar All-American. Additionally over his career, he earned Midwest Lacrosse Conference All-Conference recognition three times as a midfielder, was the MLC Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 as well as a Second-Team All-Region selection.
"Will Bradshaw has had an impressive career at AU on the field of play and in the classroom. He was able to balance student teaching while also being an integral part of the men's lacrosse program, few athletes are able to do this while in season," said AU Associate Director of Athletics for Student-Athlete Wellbeing / Senior Woman Administrator
Nicki Pieart. "Division III athletics allows student-athletes the opportunity to commit in all areas of their lives and Will was able to take full advantage. We will welcome Will back next year as the men's lacrosse graduate assistant and we know he has much to offer as a mentor to the men on the team."
Excellence in the classroom and in the community was a strong suite of Bradshaw's lineage as a Spartan as well. He graduated with numerous honors including the Golden Ivy Leaf Award, Ethel Tapper Humanities Award, graduated Magna Cum Laude, was a four-year member of the AU Dean's List, a four-time Spartan Scholar-Athlete and a Dr. Retikas Graduate School Scholarship Recipient
In the community, Bradshaw has participated in numerous giving opportunities, including Feed my starving Children, Aurora Food Pantry, Volunteering to coach Youth Lacrosse, Mentoring in Columbus Area Public Schools and was an organizer of a Halloween canned food drive as part of Cans Across the Conference to help our team raise over 600 cans that year.
