CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) announced the A-R-C Duane Schroeder Male Athlete of the Year finalists on Wednesday afternoon. Former University of Dubuque men's track & field student-athlete Otis Patterson was named a finalist for the prestigious award.

During his career at the University of Dubuque, Patterson (Chicago, Ill. / Harold L. Richards) earned numerous accolades, including being a four-time All-American, seven-time NCAA qualifier, seven-time conference champion, while racking up 12 all-conference performances, five all-region honors, and was the 2025 A-R-C Track Athlete of the Year in both the indoor and outdoor conference championships. 

Off the track, Patterson majored in communications and then went on to get a Master in Management - Sport Management graduate degree. The Chicago native was the 2023 University of Dubuque Male Scholar Athlete of the Year and earned multiple other academic honors with the Wesley Roeder Prize award, Wendt Character Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor, and was on the University's Dean's List every semester. Patterson was a four-time A-R-C All-Academic honoree, as well as a three-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-America (First team - 2024 & 2025, Third team - 2023). Patterson is the only track & field student-athlete to earn CSC Academic All-America honors three times in a career.

Jake Malm, University of Dubuque Head Track & Field Coach: "I know Otis to be a person of high character. Despite all his successes, he has remained humble, soft-spoken, and someone who cares about his team's success just as much as his own. Perhaps this is due to the fact that he has worked himself into the student-athlete he is today and nothing was gifted to him. He has seen the results of his work ethic and perseverance and he has used that experience to inspire his teammates."

In the community, Patterson participated in the annual University of Dubuque Make a Difference Day, along with helping out at the River Bend food pantry, Book Nooks (via Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque), Cozy Corner (giving out supplies and goods), and being a Back-To-School drive worker. Patterson would help out at the UD career fair every year and was a tour guide for the high school heritage tour when local schools came to campus. He would also assist local organizations such as the FASST track organization as a youth track coach, mentored kids at the YMCA Dubuque, and gave out candy to kids at the Halloween parade in the parks. 

The winner of the A-R-C Duane Schroeder Male Athlete of the Year will be announced on January 7 at Noon.

About Scholar-Athlete of the Year Awards
The American Rivers Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were first presented in December 2001 for the 2000-01 academic year. To be eligible for nomination, a student-athlete shall have graduated or exhausted their athletic eligibility during the academic year for which the award is given. The nominee must have demonstrated a high level of accomplishment and achievement in a varsity sport, have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale), and show evidence of scholarly achievements, community service involvement and leadership. Both awards were named originally for former Wartburg College and Conference sports information director Duane Schroeder in May 2002. The women's award was renamed in 2013 for former Luther College student-athlete Johanna Olson - the inaugural winner of the women's award - who lost a courageous battle with cancer in January 2013. 

About Duane Schroeder
The American Rivers Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award is named in honor of the late Duane Schroeder, former sports information director (SID) at Wartburg College. Schroeder served as Wartburg's SID for 43 years until his retirement in 2000. Upon his retirement from his sports information duties, he was named SID Emeritus and served as Wartburg's News Director until 2001. During much of his four decades at Wartburg, Schroeder served as the Conference's information director and secretary/treasurer.