The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference and Aurora University Athletics announced the recipient of their 2024-2025 Woman of the Year award today with AU senior women's cross country and track and field student-athlete Deedee Colon Maldonado earning the top distinction. The NACC honor is the G. Steven Larson Student-Athlete of the Year while AU's honor is the Spartan Woman of the Year.

The Woman of the Year award honors a graduating female student-athlete athletes who has exhausted her eligibility and distinguished herself throughout her collegiate careers in academics, athletics, service and leadership.

With being the AU and NACC Woman of the Year, Colon Maldonado joins a distinguished list of female student-athletes from NCAA conferences and independent schools who have nominated female student-athletes for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. These women represent college athletes spanning all three NCAA divisions.

Colon Maldonado wrapped up a tremendous career with a strong senior season on the course for the cross country and track and field programs. The most decorated runner in AU cross country and track and field program history, Colon Maldonado repeats as the AU Female Athlete of the Year which adds to her 10 All-American honors and five time Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Athlete of the Year award spanning cross country (2023, 2024), indoor track and field (2024, 2025), and outdoor track and field (2024). She holds nine AU and seven NACC records in the three sports she competed in.

ABOUT THE NCAA WOMAN OF THE YEAR PROCESS
The Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of representatives from the NCAA membership, will then choose the top 30 honorees – 10 from each division. From the top 30, the selection committee determines the top three honorees from each division and announces the nine finalists in September. The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics then chooses from among those nine to determine the NCAA Woman of the Year.

Established in 1991, the NCAA Woman of the Year award recognizes graduating female college athletes who have exhausted their eligibility and distinguished themselves in academics, athletics, service and leadership throughout their collegiate careers. The NCAA encourages member schools to honor their top graduating female student-athletes each year by submitting their names for consideration for the Woman of the Year award.