The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced that Mitch Boshart, a football student-athlete and social science education major at Peru State, is the male winner of the Duer award. Boshart is from Central City.

The award is named for A.O. Duer, who served as executive secretary of the NAIA for 26 years and was well known for his strong opinions that the NAIA and its member institutions should strive to effectively balance academics and athletics. The award is presented to an outstanding NAIA junior student-athlete who maintains an overall grade-point average of at least a 3.75 (on a 4-point scale). The NAIA Council of Faculty Athletics Representatives selects the two winners, one male and one female. Both winners this year were nominated by the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC).

It is the first time a student-athlete from Peru State has been selected as a winner. Two years ago, Andrew Conn (Wausa) was the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC), the Bobcats' former conference, male nominee.