Doc Elder and Alba Ontiveros recognized as NCAA DII Gold Award nominees
Voice of the Greyhounds and Head Athletic Trainer recognized for exemplification of DII values.
Go Eastern Athletics News, Jose Montoya (9.26.23):
Two members of the Eastern New Mexico athletics community are among 231 people nominated for the NCAA DII Gold Award. Head Athletic Trainer Alba Ontiveros and the “Voice of the Greyhounds” Dr. Donald “Doc” Elder are the two Greyhounds selected to represent ENMU.
The award is part of Division II’s yearlong 50th anniversary celebration that launched Aug. 7 and will extend through the 2024 Division II Baseball Championship in June. The Gold Award will recognize two individuals who have made a positive impact in Division II.
Ontiveros is a Greyhound through and through. The Las Cruces, N.M. native played volleyball as a DII student-athlete and is now an athletic administrator within the department.
“Alba is the epitome of the standard of the Gold Award. She is inspiring, caring, wanting to grow, and she is someone others should emulate,” said coordinator of compliance and former teammate Andrea Lott. “She is one of the hardest workers I have even been around. Everyone can always count on her and holds herself accountable for all she does.”
As a student-athlete, Ontiveros starred on the court for Greyhound volleyball. She helped the 2016 squad go 19-13 and a berth in the second round of the Lone Star Conference tournament.
She was named the head athletic trainer at ENMU on September 25 after two years as an assistant athletic trainer. Ontiveros holds a bachelor’s from Eastern New Mexico in health and physical education and earned a master’s in athletic training from Northern Arizona.
Her past stops include the University of San Diego and Louisiana State University.
Doc is in his 28th season broadcasting Eastern New Mexico Athletics. The Farmington, Minnesota native grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa before attending Northwestern University and the University of Northern Iowa.
“Doc Elder is the greatest of all time. When you think of Eastern New Mexico sports news – you think of Doc Elder. When you think of Greyhound Athletics – you think of him,” said Lott when asked about what Doc means to student-athletes and those in the ENMU community. “He is the number one supporter. He has always been the most loyal, attentive, informational, and caring. He actually does due diligence to get to know our student-athletes.”
He taught in Vinton, Iowa for nine years and earned his doctoral degree from the University of California, San Diego. He went on to teach at the University of Redlands from 1989 to 1995 and took the job at ENMU in 1995 to teach history.
Doc did not come to Portales with broadcast experience, but has made his mark at the DII level as one of the top broadcasters in the Lone Star Conference. His first time as a play-by-play announcer came at a Greyhound baseball game in 1996. Since then, he has received numerous recognitions for his work.
He is a 15-time broadcaster of the year honoree by the New Mexico Broadcasters Association. He is a member of the Eastern New Mexico Athletics Hall of Honors (2013) and Eastern Plains Athletic Conference Hall of Fame (2023). Doc is also a two-time (2012, 2022) winner of the Lone Star Conference broadcaster of the year award.
He was married to Janine Elder for 47 years before her passing in 2021. He has two sons and three grandsons.
The nominees include current and former student-athletes, coaches, faculty members and administrators from active member schools and conferences who have helped shape Division II over time. To view the full list of honorees, please click HERE.
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