Emily Leighton | Staff Writer
Stephanie Hayden is a senior softball player at Buena Vista University (BVU). Hayden is a senior accounting and sports management double major from Prairie City, Iowa. While playing for this Beaver team, Hayden has shined in all three years so far. In 2013, Hayden was named a Second Team All-Iowa Conference selection and a CoSIDA Academic All-District performer, while in 2014, she was named First Team All-Iowa Conference and All-Region selection, while also earning Academic All-Iowa Conference accolades and becoming an Academic All-American.
Hayden’s senior season started this past weekend in Minnesota.
“This is the most excited I have ever been. I am incredibly confident in my teammates and in our coaches that we will go farther than we have ever gone during my time here. We have a lot of talent and we really click as a team. I think we will give a lot of the ranked teams a run for their money,” Hayden said.
The Beaver softball team has a new coach this year. Head Coach Mandie Berneking is ready to go to help her team to victory.
“At the risk of sounding cliché, I hope to see our team continue to compete day in and day out. Success isn’t defined by the numbers in the win and loss columns but by our ability to learn through experiences, take challenges head on, and fight through adversity to progress in the right direction. If we can get better every day, then we will be successful. It’s about the process, not the product. If we focus on the process and perfect how we do things, the product will reflect our hard work. I believe we have the right personnel in place to make this happen, and it has started with the leadership of our seniors: Lesa Turnquist, Jordon Pilcher, and Stephanie Hayden,” Berneking said.
Berneking reflects on Hayden’s leadership role on the team.
“It’s like having a coach on the inside. Steph’s loyalty to her team and her coaches make for the best of both worlds. Her level of commitment and her ability to be approachable allows for her teammates to follow her lead. She has a great deal of experience that provides great insight for our younger athletes,” Berneking said.
With this being Hayden’s senior year, there are some mixed emotions.
“People have always told me that senior year will come faster than you think, and that is the truth. It feels just like yesterday that I was a freshman wandering around campus, but it’s exciting to be one of three seniors on the team. I know coach appreciates the upperclassmen since we have been around for three years, and this is her first year here. She likes to bounce ideas off of us and is trying new things with the program that I believe will make us successful,” Hayden said.
The team takes the diamond this coming Saturday, March 7 against Wisconsin-La Crosse in Rochester, Minn. at 5:30 p.m.
Photo by Kyle Shade
