Senior Becky Mayo has been one of Lakeland College’s fiercest lady Muskies since joining the basketball team freshman year, pushing herself to the limit through stellar play and adherence to strict training regiments. Mayo’s efforts came to a culmination on Feb. 26 when she was named a First Team All-Northern Athletics Conference performer. Having reached her ultimate goal in this honor, the shining student, possessing the poise of a future career woman, has hung up her jersey and is now setting her sights on a future in accounting.
Mayo, an accounting major from Gladstone, Mich., closed her final season with the Muskies after losing to Wisconsin Lutheran College on Feb. 16 in the Northern Athletics Conference Tournament quarterfinals, but the announcement of her NAC honor was the ultimate closer for Mayo and allowed her to emerge from her collegiate career as one of the most prosperous female players in the school’s recent history.
“It is an awesome honor. I was really excited and surprised by the award. It was something that had been my goal since freshman year. You always want to have a goal set and that was mine,” Mayo said. “It was really rewarding and a huge honor; it made me feel really good.”
The Muskie forward closed her collegiate career with totals of 735 points, 490 rebounds, 80 steals, and 80 blocks. Mayo ranks fourth-most in blocked shots in all of Lakeland history and her 254 rebounds this season place her at fifth-most in a single season in all of Lakeland College women’s basketball history. Mayo was the top rebounder in the entire conference this season and considers this feat perhaps the biggest individual accomplishment of her collegiate career.
“[Mayo] was a very dedicated player. She went out of her way to be the best player she could be. She is a fierce competitor on and off the court,” teammate Aimee Thrune, junior math education major, said.
Having a full scholarship in the Shilcutt Scholarship, the bright student has been honored by Lakeland on various occasions for her character both on and off the court, being named Muskie of the Week on several occasions.
“It is always nice to get recognized for your hard work and dedication to a program. When you’re putting forth effort it is really nice to have someone recognize it; it makes all the hard work pay off,” Mayo said.
Surprisingly, Mayo does not feel it has been too difficult to balance her busy schedule between academics, sports, and friends.
“I’m kind of a motivated student that always wants to do well and I’ve put myself in a position that I get disappointed if I don’t go to my expectations, so I’m going to put as much time into it that I get what I want out of it,” Mayo said. “It was a balancing act, but it is all about your choices and how you dedicate your time; less sleep, more other things!”
Despite managing her time so well, Mayo has overcome roadblocks throughout her years at Lakeland, including personal transitions as well as at times not seeing the results she desired in respect to her dedication to basketball, “But, it makes it all more worth it in the end; you don’t want it to be easy, then it’s not a journey,” Mayo said.
While basketball has constituted a large portion of Mayo’s world since childhood, the passionate athlete is ready to close this chapter on her life come graduation later this year as she begins to pursue a career in accounting. She has no aspirations to pursue the sport professionally and, while she has thought about it, coaching also does not seem to be in the stars.
At the moment, Mayo has an internship at a public accounting firm and is working at its Sheboygan location. “Hopefully that will turn into something, otherwise I’m still job searching for something in public accounting,” Mayo said. While she is wholly focused on attaining a career, Mayo says she probably will still play basketball for recreational purposes.
While the time has come to set her sights on new goals, Mayo is grateful for all her Muskie memories, the greatest in her opinion being during her junior year when the team beat the undefeated Wisconsin Lutheran at their home game after being down 17 points at half time, “It was the most rewarding game knowing we worked together to overcome what no one else thought we could do,” Mayo said.
Mayo will miss her teammates and coaches, whom have become a second family, “I will miss the welcoming atmosphere [at Lakeland] and just being interactive with my teammates and friends,” Mayo said.
“What will be missed most about [Mayo] is her quirky personality. She never fails to make the team laugh,” teammate Thrune said. “She is more than a teammate, she is a friend.”
“[Mayo] will be missed next year by everyone. She has her ways of making everyone laugh! I wish I [had] another year with her, but I don’t. I am a transfer and she made my transition so easy,” teammate Paige Papineau,