Aurora University Athletics

The 2018-2019 athletic seasons culminated with one of the most successful years in the history of Aurora University Athletics. With the achievement  comes the recognition of the athletes that made the success possible, with the Aurora University Male Athlete of the Year. The award, as voted on by staff members of the AU Athletic Department, will be presented to senior baseball student-athlete Jeff Mayes.

Mayes captured the top male athletic honor at AU following a tremendous final collegiate season on the baseball diamond. During his senior season, Mayes earned the CoSIDA / Google Cloud Academic All-America honor along with selections as First-Team All-Conference, and CoSIDA Academic All-District. A senior history and secondary education major, Mayes finished his illustrious AU career as the Spartans all-time hits leader with 240 hits. His senior season he hit .402 with 78 hits, 14 doubles, one triple, 40 runs scored and 31 runs batted in. He had a .485 slugging percentage, .448 on-base percentage and a .942 fielding percentage. 

In his four years as a Spartan, he was named a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference and AU Scholar-Athlete three times each and will be again in 2018-2019 when those teams are announced. He was a first-team All-Conference selection this year and a second-team honoree as a sophomore. 

The Spartan baseball team concluded the 2019 season with a 35-11 overall record, a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship and the program's 22nd NCAA Division III Tournament appearance.

Additionally, Mayes received the Richard Rickey Award. The Richard Rickey Award is given to a senior male student-athlete who exemplifies the characteristics of dedication, determination, sportsmanship and faith throughout the academic year.