Medina County Hall of Fame: Nikki Boltja is the gold standard for Medina lacrosse

The tradition of Medina girls lacrosse is rich. From state titles from 2010-12 to a runner-up finish in 2014 and three other state semifinal showings, the names of former players roll off the tongue. But one stands above all the rest in Nikki Boltja. The 29-year old has always been the bar, which is why she will be inducted into the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame during June 18 festivities at The Galaxy Restaurant in Wadsworth. "You absolutely think of her first," said former Medina coach Ed Gambaccini, who mentored her as a junior and senior. "She had the speed. She had the skills. She could shoot from anywhere. She could pass with her left or right hand. Teams would faceguard her and it didn't slow her down." What started out as a way to play with her sisters and be coached by her parents turned into passion unparalleled. A four-time All-Ohioan and three-time, first-team all-state selection, the 2010 Medina graduate was also a three-time Great Lakes National team honoree and two-time first-team All-American. She holds state records for goals (293) and assists (128) and led the Bees to the first of three straight state titles. "Her stick skills were phenomenal, and honestly if you don't have good stick skills with the game of lacrosse, you can't do anything else," former Medina teammate Sydney Thomas said. "She set the standard of not only how you wanted Medina to be as a program, but how you wanted to be as a player." Lacrosse first The lacrosse bug bit Boltja in seventh grade, and she hasn't left the sport since. From her playing days with Medina and then Louisville to being drafted by the Philadelphia Fire of the Women's Professional Lacrosse League, her intensity has always been the same. "It was motivating to see someone have that much drive," former Bees teammate Ellie Hudson-Heck said. "I don't think that's all that common in high school sports. You probably run into it more in college. There are few people that have the drive and the passion for a single sport all four years." The switch in Boltja's brain never turned off, as she'd be talking to coaches while thinking about what she could do the next day to get better. Former Cardinals coach Kellie Young remembers a time where the season ended and she got to the office around 7 a.m. the next day to collect uniforms and send the girls home. While walking across campus she noticed footprints in the dew on the turf, where Boltja had already shot a bucket of balls to get ready for the next season. "Her passion definitely showed by the amount of effort she put into the game outside of practice," Louisville teammate Faye Brust said. "She wanted it more than anyone else. She didn't just want to get better for herself, but for her team. You can still see that with her coaching." What started as something to do to spend time with family became a game Boltja couldn't put down. "She had a great passion," Gambaccini said. "The whole family had a great passion. It started with the family 100% supporting the program. Nikki would try to run practices on her own in the offseason. She got everyone involved." The natural The great ones make things look effortless, and Boltja fits the bill. While in high school, she showed up to a Louisville camp in her usual shy, unassuming way and put on a clinic. Young noticed something about her instincts and willingness to be aggressive. The veteran coach saw how she didn't shy away from double and triple teams and wanted to know more about the introverted attacker that let her game do the talking. At Louisville, Boltja was a two-time All-American and landed first-team honors as a senior, when she finished third in the nation in goals (71) and fourth in points (100). Boltja was also the unanimous Big East Offensive Player of the Year that season. She ranks second in school history in points (235) and goals (93) and third in assists (42). "It is the best leap of faith I've taken," Young said. "It really was her belief in herself that inspired me to take a chance on her. There's something intrinsic in her that is self-motivating. That's a really hard thing to get other people to do." That determination came at an early age for Boltja. "It's her drive on and off the field to be the best she can be," Hudson-Heck said. "She wants her teammates to be the best they can be. She just had this intuition to know what needed to happen on the field. She could see things that others might not. It came naturally to her. Once she was there, the instincts kicked in. She could do what she needed to do, and those instincts helped her get the job done." Boltja made everyone around her better by working harder in practice. That way when the game came around, it was more a case of been there, done that. "Nikki really pushed you," Thomas said. "She had such a passion. She wanted you to feel that desire to want to win. That's why it made our team so great. If you were dogging it, she was there to pick you up. She also lifted you up when you did things great and helped you to get better." That hunger is there to this day as an assistant coach at Davidson. "That's one of the best things about her," said Davidson attack Erin Cooke, who played under Boltja this season. "When she shows us and gives us examples, it makes us want to be better because she's so good. "She hops in practice and her speed is so quick. She has a great first step. Even beyond that, it's her knowledge of the game. She knows what to do in every instance and it always works out." Fill it The bigger the game, the bigger Boltja was. "From the time I got to high school, the goal was to win a state championship," Boltja said. "It was something our team was always working toward. We had great seniors when I was a freshman. Our whole team worked together off the field to get to the bigger moments." When that happened her senior season to kick off a three-year reign by the Bees, it was almost expected. Players knew Boltja was going to give it everything she had, so they should as well. It led to an undefeated year in 2010. "She was always on," Hudson-Heck said. "It was her focus and ambition. No matter what is going on in the field, something can always be done if you are in a position to do it and have teammates to back you up." The season before Boltja came to the Cardinals, they were 11-6 overall and 4-4 in the Big East. When she left, they were 16-4, undefeated conference champions and NCAA Tournament participants. "She never felt the pressure because she always felt prepared," Brust said. "Where most people got nervous, she shined because she knew she was ready for that moment. "She always makes things so fun and so easy, and she brought that to her teammates. They saw how much she wanted it. It made us want to be better for Nikki. It made us try to be up at her level." Young has coached greats like Erin Elbe, Kelly Berger, Wick Stanwick and Sheehan Stanwick and doesn't hesitate in putting Boltja among those names. "They're all wonderful and amazing people and she's in that group," Young said. "Her love for the game is intrinsic. She's just so passionate about it. "That love of the game has you come back the next day. She was that player that always came back to find a way to get better. That's what made her so great." Passing the torch Lacrosse never left Boltja, who graduated from Louisville with a degree in health and human performance, with a concentration in exercise science, in 2014. She came back to the Cardinals in 2015 as a volunteer assistant and had stints as a coach with Cardinal Elite Lacrosse, Ohio Premier Lacrosse, Midwestern Force Lacrosse and XTEAM Lacrosse. "I'm not surprised by that," Gambaccini said. "She has a love and dedication for the game beyond anybody else I've ever coached. She was heads above everyone else in terms of knowledge and skill and dedication. For her to be involved in coaching and youth camps, I guarantee she does it for a long time." Boltja has coached at Medina and was an assistant at San Diego State, where the Aztecs won back-to-back Mountain Pacific Sports Federation titles. She also assisted at Baldwin Wallace and Stetson. "I had a really good high school and college playing experience," Boltja said. "I want to create that for other people as well. I think it's important to have coaches that know the game and are willing to learn more about the game." This season, Boltja joined Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year Kim Wayne in leading the Wildcats to an 11-4 mark and 6-1 conference record. "Nikki kept giving back to the game," Young said. "We've had many talks about coaches doing things different ways. She needs to find her way. I hope she'll stay in it. She wants to give back. It's not about going into coaching because it's a job. It's about wanting to coach to grow the game." That wasn't lost on players like Cooke, who was one of a program-high eight players to earn all-league honors. Cooke led the team in points (51), assists (20) and was second in goals (31). "When you're in the presence of someone who is so confident in their own abilities, it inspires you to be that much better," she said. "You want to know everything she does, how she's doing it and what she's doing because you see how effective it is. "When she explains it, it's never, 'Do it because I said so.' It's 'Do this because this is what the defense is doing.' She says it in a way that makes sense. You might not have the individual talent she does, but you will understand the game better and that's special." Contact Brad Bournival at bournival929@gmail.com.