Special Achievement Award from NDAPSSA 2026

SCOTT THROLSON

Elliot Rotvold took over for a legendary coach and
maintained the long-standing basketball tradition at Hillsboro-Central
Valley.

The Thompson baseball team put together a run of state titles that hadn’t been seen in decades.

Katie Zaun capped her career as a 12-time All-American for the Texas Christian rifle team.

They were named the recipients of the Special
Achievement Award by the North Dakota Associated Press Sportscasters and
Sportswriters Association. To achieve the Association’s highest honor,
nominees needed 75 percent approval in voting
by NDAPSSA members.

Elliot Rotvold

When Ed Beyer retired after leading Hillsboro to
688 career wins and four North Dakota Class B titles, the school turned
to Rotvold, a former Burro player, to take the reins.

Rotvold, who played collegiately at North Dakota
State from 1986-90, was coaching in Wakonda, S.D., before taking over at
his alma mater. Before playing for the Bison, Rotvold scored more than
1,000 points in his high school career for
Beyer’s Burros.

For the second time in 65 years, the Burros will be
looking for a new head coach. Beyer coached for 37 seasons and Rotvold
retired after 28 years and 500 wins of his own.

Rotvold led Hillsboro-Central Valley to
back-to-back state championships in 2017 and 2018. The Burros beat Four
Winds-Minnewaukan 63-60 in the 2017 final and repeated with a 73-71
overtime win over Minot Ryan in 2018. He also led the Hillsboro-Central
Valley program through the move from Class B to Class A in the
three-class era.

The Burros finished 13-9, second in Class A Region 2
during the regular season last year and lost 54-48 to
Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg in the opening round of the regional tournament.

Thompson baseball

For the fifth straight season, the Tommies won their final game of the season.

After a run of four consecutive state
championships, Thompson ended the year with a 6-3 victory over
Velva-Drake-Anamoose in the third-place game of the state tournament
this spring in Jamestown.

Only a 9-1 semifinal loss to eventual state
champion Park River kept the Tommies from playing in the title game for a
fifth consecutive season.

From 2022-25, Thompson reeled off 14 straight state
tournament victories and became the first Class B team to win four
state titles in a row since Drayton won six in a row from 1958-63.

Four other teams had won three consecutive Class B
crowns over the years – Hatton (1969-71), Cavalier (2002-04), Minot Ryan
(2007-09) and Park River-Fordville-Lankin (2017-19).

In Class A baseball, only one team has ever won three straight titles – West Fargo Sheyenne from 2021-23.

Making it back to the state tournament this season, the Tommies won their 10th consecutive Region 2 championship.

Katie Zaun

A senior at Texas Christian, Zaun was once again one of the top shooters in the country.

The Buffalo, N.D., native earned CRCA All-American honors in air rifle, smallbore and aggregate score for TCU.

A 12-time All-American, Zaun was a first-team
honoree in air rifle and smallbore all four seasons of her college
career and three times in aggregate score.

She ranked third in the nation in smallbore average
(592.25), fifth in rifle average (597.4) and in aggregate score
finished fourth (1,189,65).

She helped TCU qualify for the national championships for the 20th consecutive season, and finish as national runners-up.

Zaun shot one of the 11 perfect 600 air rifle marks in the NCAA during the season in October at UTEP.

She was named the CRCA Senior Athlete of the Year
and is a candidate for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in 2028 after
being an alternate in 2024.