Wayne State College honored Dr. Ron Holt with a track and field dedication at the Wildcat Dome on Sept. 25.
The ceremony dedicating the indoor track and football field in the Wildcat Dome took place on Thursday, Sept. 25. The Dr. Ron Holt Track and Dr. Ron Holt Field were named after WSC alum Ron Holt, who graduated in 1989. He was a track athlete and has been giving back to WSC since his senior year. He contributed greatly to the construction of the dome and to the rec center update.
Many student athletes, WSC faculty, staff and alumni were in attendance. Speakers were WSC Athletic Director Mike Powicki, Holt himself, student athletes Alex Altman and Anna Coffee and WSC President Marysz Rames.
“The six lane, 300-meter track is the only indoor track of its kind in the state of Nebraska,” Powicki said during his speech. “and this field is about 90 plus yards of artificial turf, is an incredible, valuable, indoor multiuse facility for all sorts of campus activities.”
The Wildcat Dome, or the “bubble,” is utilized by many student athletes, whether in track, football, golf or soccer – even the band practices on the turf. The dome is used for indoor track and field events during the winter. Coffee said that student athletes and non-athletes aren’t getting in each other’s way anymore in the rec center. The athletes can have the dome for their practices, and non-athletes can use the rec without the fear of running into the athletes.
Holt was the last speaker at the event. “Being honored is such an amazing feeling for me,” he said. “I started giving back as a senior at Wayne State College, and I felt like it was very, very important for me to continue to give back,”
Holt grew up in Omaha and graduated from Millard Public Schools before attending WSC. He graduated with a chemistry and biology degree before moving on to medical school at Kansas University in Lawrence, Kansas.
Later, Holt went to Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas for psychiatry, and now resides in San Francisco, California. Holt works as a university psychiatrist, helping people deal with their mental health while finishing college.
Holt has been giving back to WSC for 35 years and comes back annually during Homecoming to present to people on campus and in the community.
