Hillary Holt and Eric Avila
Past Cross Country Champions Headline National Meet Student Athlete Experience Program
Vancouver, WA. - Past NAIA individual champions, Hillary Holt and Eric Avila, graduates from Cascade Conference institutions were special guests at the 2017 NAIA men's and women's National Championships opening ceremonies. The banquet, attended by over a thousand student-athletes, coaches and meet organizers included a meal, recognition of individual Champion of Character winners, as well as, regional coach and athlete awards presented by USTFCCCA.
Holt, a graduate of The College of Idaho is an eleven- time NAIA champion winning back to back individual cross country titles in 2011 and 2012 as well as, 2x Indoor DMR champion, 2x Indoor Mile champion, Indoor 3,000 and Indoor 800m champion and a 3x Outdoor 1,500 meter champion.
Avila was a student-athlete at Southern Oregon University between 2011-2014. Eric is a three-time NAIA Champion earning individual titles in cross country and the outdoor 1500 and was a member of the indoor DMR champions. IN 2014, two weeks after his final NAIA Championship meet he became the first runner since 1988 to clock a sub-4-minute mile at the Jim Ryun Festival of Miles with a time of 3:56.89.
Both took questions from emcee Mr. Tod Pickett about their experiences as NAIA student athletes and answered questions from those in attendance. Avila is pursuing professional running and Holt is an assistant coach and graduate student at Concordia-Irvine.
Hillary Holt-The College of Idaho- 2009-2012
11 TIME NAIA NATIONAL CHAMPION
· 2x XC Individual Champion (led CI to back-to-back 2nd place finishes)
· 2x Indoor DMR champion
· 2x Indoor Mile champion
· Indoor 3,000 and Indoor 800m champion
· 3x Outdoor 1,500 meter champion
2x USATF Outdoor Nationals Participant
· Qualified for the 2013 finals, placing 12th
· Won the Oregon Twilight “Elite” section of 1,500 in with a time of 4:11 – fastest time in NAIA history
2x Athlete of the Year in the Cascade Conference (XC, T&F)
2x CCC All-Sports Athlete of the Year
6x CCC All-Academic Team selection
4x NAIA Scholar-Athlete
2x CoSIDA first-team Academic All-American
Eric Avila- Southern Oregon University-2011-2014
3 TIME NAIA NATIONAL CHAMPION
· XC Individual Champion
· Indoor DMR champion
· Outdoor 1,500 meter champion
· 5K (13:43.05). 5K time enabled him to pull off an upset win among elite NCAA Division I competition at the Stanford Invitational
POST NATIONALS SENIOR YEAR
· Two weeks after his final NAIA Championship meet, he became the first runner since 1988 to clock a sub-4-minute mile at the Jim Ryun Festival of Miles with a time of 3:56.89. A month later, he finished 10th in the USA Outdoor Championships 1,500 final, and last year he was 11th in the 1,500-meter Olympic Trials at Hayward Field. He qualified for the trials with a time of 3:38.3.
1x Athlete of the Year in the Cascade Conference (XC, T&F)
1x CCC All-Sports Athlete of the Year