As September ends and autumn officially has begun, the Buena Vista fall athletic squads have been hard at work in their first month back in Storm Lake.

Aside from the Football, Soccer and Volleyball teams, six other squads of both men and women are wrapping up their seasons. Men’s and Women’s Golf, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, and Men’s and Women’s Cross Country have all been consistently improving and impressing since the 2019 school year began not long ago. 

Here’s your Fall Sports recap thus far:  

Cross–Country: 

Alongside new Assistant Coaches Cale Korbelik and Evie Kanmmeyer, Head Cross–Country Coach Colt Slack helped his squads hit the fall 2019 season running.

Both literally and metaphorically. 

“The expectation set every year is a continual improvement and higher conference finishes. Our team is working well and grinding as a unit,” says Slack. “I am confident that this is a year that we leave our mark. As long as we stay healthy and continue working hard, I have no doubt we will be happy with the final product.”

Beginning with the Bill Buxton Invite back in late August, the Men took 5th place lead by Greg Tystahl’s fifth-place finish.  

The Women would also have their own standout performance, claiming the 4th place spot in the St. Olaf Invite just a few days ago as well. 

However, there was a slight bump in the road. Facing some of the best teams in the region, Buena Vista grabbed an 18th place finish out of 25 teams in the Augustana Twilight race in early September. But the positives still shone through on the night.

Safe to say, Slack is pleased with the two teams so far this year but is far from satisfied. 

“So far this season, I am happy with the leadership and accountability the team has displayed,” says Slack. He adds, “I believe a confident runner is a dangerous runner and by the end of the year I am hoping our confidence will be at an all–time high.” 

The Cross-Country squads have a pair of invites left in October before the big dance. On October 5th the pair travel to Waverly for the Dan Huston Invite and follow up in Mason City after at the Trent Smith Invite on October 11th.  

The fall season will wrap up on November 2nd with the coveted American Rivers Conference Championships.

Golf: 

Under new Head Coach Joe Powell, a 2017 graduate of Quincy University, the Men’s Golf team has experienced fast success.

With a new coach naturally comes some growing pains, yet Powell was not deterred from setting a high bar from the get-go.

“My expectations for the team and myself were pretty high coming into the first fall season. I knew there was a lot of talent with my guys on the team and they just needed to be pushed in the right direction,” says Powell. 

Beginning play on September 8th, the squad finished first with a score of 311 after a hard–fought two-day invite at the Iowa City Shootout. Shane Hess would take fourth place, while Ryan Ruzek and Joey Ashley shot 77 and 78 respectively for high finishes.

Another solid performance in the D3 Midwest Regional Classic found the team in the top half of the competing squads there as well, finishing 17th out of 36. With a fifth–place finish at the Norm Ryerson Invite and a matchup in Dubuque versus the Spartans on October 11th, the Beavers look to end fall strong. 

“The team has been nothing short of incredible to work with as my first season at BVU continues. The thing that has surprised me the most about this team is the chemistry they already have with one another,” says Powell. He adds, “Moving forward, I look forward to seeing this team grow together and gain some mental strength and learn to grind some rounds out, especially as we move closer to the conference season in the spring.” 

For the Women, it’s been a story of improvement. Standout performances from newcomers to the Janet Berry lead program have highlighted fall play thus far. 

Berry, the once legendary Head Coach of the BVU Women’s Basketball team, set the expectation that scores continually improve as the team eyes the fast–approaching conference tournament. 

So far, Berry’s had a lot to be impressed by. 

“We have had a really good fall. We’ve been very competitive finishing as high as third at the BVU Invite. This is a good group of golfers who are working hard to peak for our upcoming ARC tournament the first week of October.” says Berry. 

As mentioned, Schweers and Tenhoeve, two newcomers to the program, have had career days already. Alongside the stalwart Raelinn Arnold, the trio rounds out the six–woman roster that has one final test before the season ends. 

Wrapping things up with the ARC Championships beginning on Saturday, October 5th at 10 am, the three-day event will test the mettle of the six, and hopefully see more standout performances from the Beavers.  

Tennis: 

The BVU Men’s Tennis team just wrapped up their fall 2019 campaign, having gone on a two-game win streak at the very end. Defeating Iowa Central in a 5-4 thriller, and then besting Northwestern College 6-3, the squad would finish at 2-1. 

With a strong core of returners lead by Head Coach Brett Groen in his fifth season at the helm, the Men’s team looked to get right back to where they left off before Summer break. 

“With the summer off, it was a matter of repetition and consistency for our goals. We don’t schedule that many matches in the fall, as we just want to get a taste of competition before our ARC Tournament. I was pleased with how fast the team got close to last Spring’s form and can only imagine how good we will do next spring as we continue to move our team forward.” says Groen. 

However, the highlight of the year was the exceptional finish to the American Rivers Conference Individual Tournament last weekend. 

John Foss and Danny Kramer came back to Storm Lake with bronze medals in tow, after a solid run in the B doubles bracket. As a team, Groen was pleased with the two-day performance.

“I was extremely happy with how our doubles did over the weekend. Danny and John had only had about three matches together before they made their run in B doubles,” says Groen. He adds, “[Danny] Kramer also had a good run in B Singles making it to the quarter-finals before falling to the eventual champion. We still need to find the things we do well in practice to be put into matches a bit better. We can do all the right things from Monday to Friday, but if you are scared to try them on Saturday, you are only hurting yourself from growing.” 

On the other side of the court, the Women’s Tennis team and Head Coach Dan Taylor have had a rough fall campaign. 

With a small roster of six women, the team has struggled to get the ball to fall their way so far with an 0-7 record, while also sitting at 0-4 in ARC matchups. 

The team began the conference season with a trio of 0-9 losses to Luther, Wartburg, and Loras over the course of a week. The women would finally win a pair of points against ARC rivals but still fall 2-7 to Dubuque on September 14th. 

The Beavers’ latest matchups with both Cornell and Morningside went more of the same, but the team is slowly improving.  

Number one Alexis McGinnis and number two Nicole Lange have stood out so far, with lone Senior Destiny Einerwold also seeking to go out on top in her final year. 

The Beavers wrap up American Rivers Conference play with a pair of home matchups against Nebraska Wesleyan and Coe on October 5th. The team will compete in the ARC Individual Tournament in Waterloo, Iowa on October 11h and 12th to close the year out.