Holtz earns Elite 18 Award

     Isaac Holtz didn’t know what was coming.

     During the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Monticello High School graduate was one of 18 individuals presented with the Elite 18 award.

     The Elite 18 Award Program was established by the Missouri Valley Conference in the fall of 2010 to honor the highest achievement in academics and athletics by a student-athlete in each MVC-sponsored sport. Modeled after the NCAA Elite 88 Academic Recognition Award Program, the MVC Elite 18 award is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing at the finals site at each of the MVC’s 18 team championships.

     “I didn’t even know I was up for it,” Holtz said. “I was just talking with my teammates, and heard them say my name on the loudspeaker. I was caught off-guard.”

     The selection process varies for each sport. For track and field, the winners are chosen from nominated student-athletes who have met an athletic performance threshold.         

     Holtz, a redshirt sophomore at the University of Northern Iowa, competed in the shot put and discus at the event. He earned all-conference honors in the shot put, finishing third with a personal best distance of 57-foot-11.75. That throw is fifth-best in UNI history.

     Just as he had no idea about the Elite 18 award, Holtz had his doubts about having that kind of success in the conference meet, which was held at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

     “I’ve been trying to change things in my technique to make big jumps in distance,” Holtz said. “It has been frustrating, but at the conference meet it turned around. You have to trust the process.”

     The UNI men’s team finished third in the meet.