In an announcement made today, 20 student-athletes were recognized as regional winners of the inaugural Division III Commissioner's Association (D3CA) Student-Athlete of the Year awards. Aurora University Spartan baseball infielder Justin Sartori was selected as the Region XI Men's Student-Athlete of the Year.
Sarttori earned the D3CA recognition after earlier being named the 2021-2022 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Male Student-Athlete of the Year and Aurora University Spartan Man of the Year Award.
He is a three-year member of the AU baseball program, serving as a key component for Spartans squads that won NACC regular-season titles in 2021 and 2022 and the 2021 NACC Tournament title while advancing to a pair of NCAA regionals. He had a tremendous 2022 season that led to a long list of post season award recognition. He was a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference First-Team pick and a First-Team All-Region selection by both D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). Sartori continued his further recognition as the 2022 NACC Baseball Position Player of the Year and D3baseball.com Region 8 Player of the Year honors en route to Second-Team All-America honors from both D3baseball.com and the ABCA.
Sartori started 47 games during the 2022 campaign, finishing with a .375 batting average, 12 home runs, two triples, 18 doubles, 59 runs scored, and a new AU and NACC single-season record 70 runs batted in. He also finished with a .677 slugging, .461 on-base, and .997 fielding percentage. During his career, Sartori has started 104 games, hitting .375 with 152 hits, 37 doubles, three triples, 17 home runs, and 125 RBIs while posting a .567 slugging percentage.
"At the end of the day, AU has helped to shape me into who I am today. I have learned lessons that will carry over into my life long after my playing days are over," said Sartori. "I believe I have made a positive impact on others around me, and I hope they were able to learn from me as much as I was able to learn from them. Aurora University will always be a special place for me and I am grateful for the time that I have spent here."
Sartori graduated summa cum laude in May 2021 with a 4.0 grade-point average while majoring in business administration and finance and is currently in pursuit of a graduate degree at AU. He was named a CoSIDA Academic All-District pick in both 2021 and 2022, receiving CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team honors this past spring. Sartori is also a three-time AU and NACC Scholar-Athlete (2020, 2021 and 2022).
"Aurora University has given me plenty of opportunities to make a positive impact on my community," noted Sartori in his personal statement. "From volunteering at the Aurora Food Pantry to making blankets for Project Linus, it is awesome to see the impact that athletes at AU can have on the community. As athletes, we know how much the community supports the successes of all of the athletic programs at AU. It means a lot to me that we are able to find ways to give back to such a supportive community."
A member of the Aurora University baseball leadership council, Sartori was involved in service projects ranging from AU's Project Linus blanket drive to food pantries in both Kendall County and Aurora, the Aurora Salvation Army, and the local Kiwanis Coats for Kids drive.
Each of the winners will advance to the national ballot for consideration for 2021-22 D3CA Men's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year and Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year. Conferences were permitted to submit two nominations for each award if at least one of the nominations was an international student/ethnic minority.
Graduating seniors were the only student-athletes eligible for this award. Selection criteria for the awards included considerations based on academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership and a personal statement submitted by each nominee. Voting was conducted by the commissioners within each of the ten regions, with the top male and female honoree (including ties) recognized as finalists for the Awards Committee to select the Division III Commissioner's Association Men's Sport and Women's Sport Student-Athlete of the Year. The two national winners will be announced later this month.
Original source can be found here.
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