The 2023-2024 athletic season culminated with another successful year for Aurora University Athletics. With the lofty achievements on the playing surfaces comes the recognition of the athletes that made the success possible, starting with the Aurora University Female Athlete of the Year. The award, as voted on by staff members of the AU Athletic Department, will be presented to women's cross country and track and field standout junior Deedee Colon Maldonado.

Colon Maldonado wrapped up a 2023-2024 season that was filled with accolades for her performances on the cross country and track and field courses while securing the top athletic honor bestowed upon a Spartan female student-athlete. 

The top AU award followed Colon Maldonado having earned All-American recognition five times, once in cross country, two times at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship and two times at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

She swept the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Player of the Year awards in cross country and track and field winning all three of the NACC's top honor in each sport. 

In cross country she finished in 29th-place with a time of 21:37.5 at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. She won individual titles at the AU Spartan Classic (22:38.2) and UW-La Crosse Tori Neubauer Invitational (22:16.4). A four-time NACC Women's Cross Country Student-Athlete of the Week, Colon Maldonado closed out her regular season by winning the individual title at the NACC Championships, overcoming an on-course routing incident that impacted one-fifth of the field to win the crown with a time of 23:10.4. Colon Maldonado then finished ninth (21:28.8) at the NCAA Midwest Region Championships in Waverly, Iowa, to earn all-region honors and punch her ticket to the national meet.

Colon Maldonado had a dominant season on the indoor track, finishing unbeaten against NACC competition in the mile, 3000, and 5000. Along the way, she set new NACC all-time marks in those three events as well as the distance medley relay. She was named Women's Track Athlete of the Meet at the 2024 NACC Indoor Track and Field Championships in late February after scoring 32.5 points on the strength of three individual titles and a relay victory. She won both the mile (5:07.88) and 3000 (10:09.61) in championship-record time while also posting a win in the 5000 (18:15.73) and anchoring the Spartans' victorious distance medley relay (13:04.33). She qualified for the 2024 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships in both the 3000 and 5000, finishing with USTFCCCA Second Team All-America honors in both events. She placed 14th in the 3000 with a time of 9:51.89 and just missed first-team all-America honors in the 5000 by placing ninth with a time of 16:59.49.

The dominance continued in the outdoor track season while showing some versatility, running events at distances ranging from 400 to 5000 meters. Colon Maldonado set the NACC all-time mark in the 5000 with a 16:34.97 clocking at the UW-Platteville Invitational, then broke the NACC all-time mark in the 1500 the following day with a 4:32.09 clocking at the Wheaton Invitational. She would subsequently lower the mark to 4:31.01 at the Wheaton Twilight one week later before running the current standard of 4:26.24 at the St. Francis Fighting Chance Invitational in mid-May.

At the 2024 NACC Outdoor Championships, she finished as one of the top individual point scorers after winning both the 1500 (4:35.30) and 5000 (18:00.13) and running on AU's winning 4x400 relay (4:03.33). Colon Maldonado's winning time in the 1500 set a new championship record.

Colon Maldonado ran to a fourth-place finish and USTFCCCA First Team All-America honors in the 1500 at the 2024 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. She posted a time of 4:28.78 to take fourth in her preliminary heat, then ran a 4:32.24 in the final. Colon Maldonado added second-team All-America honors with an 11th-place finish in the 5000 with a time of 17:04.10.