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169 T here is no quit in University of Iowa thrower Reno Tuufuli. Tuufuli, a redshirt junior from Las Vegas, came to the Hawkeyes aer a successful youth career in the discus at the national and world levels. He was excited when his mother, Dawn Wilder, accompanied him to Iowa City in 2014. She bought school supplies and helped him move into Hillcrest Residence Hall. en she returned home. "I had no idea what to do," Tuufuli admitted at a University of Iowa athletics department all-staff meeting April 11 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. In fact, aer his initial meeting with Iowa track and field coaches at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Tuufuli couldn't even find his way back to his dormitory without a struggle. "I figured I could walk back to Hillcrest, which is just down the road over there," Tuufuli said. "It took me an hour and half to get home. I had no idea where I was. I actually did a full lap around Carver then I asked 10 strangers for directions. Aer that I went to practice, class, and home. I didn't go anywhere else." He spent the 2015 indoor and outdoor seasons in redshirt as he acclimated to college and collegiate competition. But becoming comfortable with his surroundings didn't always sit well with Tuufuli. Year two of college arrived and so did trouble with the law. Twice. "e next year I moved into an apartment and that was a big deal for me," Tuufuli said. "It was the first adult decision that I made in my life; I was paying my own rent, I was buying my own food, and I had a lot of freedom. It was exciting for me." No restraints and no self-control didn't bode well for Tuufuli. "I was stuck to face the consequences with the hole I dug myself," he said. "I ended up having my scholarship cut — I could deal with the consequences that I had to face because they were my decisions and I couldn't blame anybody else." e hardest part of accepting those consequences was phoning his parents. For Tuufuli, it was much easier tossing a shot a school-record 63-feet, 3 ¼-inches than telling his mother and father what regrettably went down in Iowa City. "It is probably the most disappointed they had ever been in me in my life," Tuufuli said. "My mom couldn't even talk to me half way through the phone call because she was too busy crying; I had to talk to my sister. "Aer that conversation it hit me what I had done and the predicament I was in. I spent the next year doubting myself, sad, and depressed, not knowing what to do with my life. I know I wanted to keep my head down and keep grinding and pray for an opportunity." Enter teammate Lindsay Herra. She listened to Tuufuli and was there to lend a hand. "(Herra) really helped me out in life," Tuufuli said. "It seemed I had a tint over my outlook in life — a tint of negativity that didn't allow me to see the blessings and opportunities that were around me. (Herra) helped me see the value in me and helped me realize I'm not only living for myself, I am living for my family and for a purpose bigger than me." Tuufuli placed second at the 2018 Big Ten Indoor Championships in the shot put (63-3 ¼); in June he became a first-team All-American with a fih-place effort in the discus at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon. "Now I feel I have a life I can be proud of," Tuufuli said. "I can be proud of the jobs I do, be proud of the life I live. I'm proud to be a son of God, I'm proud to be a student-athlete and I'm proud to be a Hawkeye."