The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) has announced its Athletes of the Year for the 2024 cross country season. Aurora University seniorÂ
Deedee Colon Maldonado has been named the 2024 NACC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year, earning the honor for a second consecutive year.
The awards were voted on by the league's head coaches. The NACC Athlete of the Year awards were introduced in 2022 as standalone honors recognizing the league's top individuals for season-long achievements in the sports of men's and women's cross country. Prior to 2022, the individual champions at that year's NACC Championships were also named NACC Runners of the Year.
NACC Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year --- Deyanneira (Deedee) Colon Maldonado, Aurora University
Colon Maldonado finished the 2024 season unbeaten against NACC competition, recording five top-four finishes in six opportunities. She won the individual title at the Wheaton (Ill.) Gil Dodds Invitational, placed third at the Augustana (Ill.) Interregional Invitational, and took fourth at the D3 Pre-Nationals meet before defending her individual title at the 2024 NACC Championships.
Colon Maldonado won the NACC crown with a time of 21:42.0, missing the championship record by 0.75 seconds. She completed her NACC championship career with four top-three finishes (3-2-1-1). She followed up her second league crown with a runner-up finish (21:36.3) at the NCAA Midwest Region Championships to secure her second all-region honor and fourth trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Running in the lead chase pack at the national meet, Colon Maldonado sat in fifth place at both the 1-kilometer and 3-kilometer splits before slipping to 25th overall at the 5-kilometer mark. She picked up three spots over the final kilometer to complete the 6-kilometer championship race with a time of 21:32.6, earning her second all-America honor in the process.
Colon Maldonado also etched her named in the NACC cross country record book, setting the league's all-time 6K mark with a 21:18.0 clocking at the Augustana meet.
The first two-time cross country All-American in NACC history, Colon Maldonado was also a four-time NACC Student-Athlete of the Week during the 2024 season. The honor is Colon Maldonado's third NACC major award in cross country. In addition to the 2023 Athlete of the Year award, she was also the 2021 NACC Freshman of the Year.
This is the seventh time an AU student-athlete has received the NACC's top individual award in the sport. In addition to the repeat performance for Colon Maldonado (2023 and 2024), the previous honors (Fran Sikorski, 2006; Morgan Jacquette, 2007; Emily Paull, 2013 and 2014; Jackie Shane, 2016) came under the former "Runner of the Year" designation, which was tied to the individual title at the NACC Championships.
