SPARTAN REPORT News from Aurora University Athletics | March 2017
Winning programs lure athletes to Aurora University Junior business major Deterrica Simpkins came to Aurora University from St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2014 to run track and she says it’s one of the best decisions she’s ever made. “I prefer a smaller, more hands-on community,” she said. “At other universities athletics is like a job; here it’s fun. I can balance my academic and athletic interests. AU is a great place to build your foundation.” And not only is AU fun, it wins — not a small part of its appeal according to Simpkins and to other athletes who come here from all around the country to compete and to study. In fact, just this month the AU women’s track team won the 2017 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. For the fifth consecutive season, the Spartan women won a very tough conference guided by some strong individual performances. Simpkins herself finished first in the 55-meter sprint, led the 4x400meter relay and finished second in the 200-meter sprint. With such success, it’s no wonder that athletes chart a path to AU to play in one the university’s 24 NCAA Division III intercollegiate athletic teams.
The Spartans boast a winning tradition with numerous conference titles and appearances in NCAA tournaments across sports. As much as 30 percent of AU’s baseball team each year hails from some place other than Illinois. This year’s roster, for example, includes four players from Arizona, two from Colorado and one — pitcher Aron Okamoto — from Hawaii. And that’s not even counting the players from Missouri, New Mexico, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin. The story is much the same for women’s volleyball, where 11 of the team’s 24 players this year came from outside Illinois. Bringing in top athletes is not necessarily the primary reason AU puts so much effort into its recruiting program. The objective, according to volleyball Head Coach James Seitelman, is to recruit top student-athletes — that is, talented athletes who put their academic goals first. “We’re looking for the complete package in our student-athletes,” he said. “We want them certainly to be good athletes but to also be fully engaged academically and with the larger university community. We seek
Deterrica Simpkins of St. Petersburg, Florida
students who are really committed to developing the mind, body and spirit, which is Aurora University’s underlying objective. We’ve found that by recruiting student-athletes with those qualities the victories follow. “AU is a great choice for a lot of out-ofstate students,” said Seitelman. “We offer the best of both worlds. We want to be competitive on the national scene athletically and we want to make sure they are successful academically. We are very competitive from a financial aid perspective compared with a lot of Division III institutions.” AU’s location, with its easy access to Chicago and two international airports nearby, can be a factor as well, according to Seitelman. But the bottom line is an aggressive, play-to-win strategy and access to an excellent education. “I want all our players to be successful after graduation in a field that they love,” he said.