ORANGE CITY, Iowa (Apr. 19, 2024) - The Buena Vista University men's outdoor track & field team had a strong start to the Red Raider Open, hosted by Northwestern College (IA), which began on Friday, as the Beavers ended the day with a trio of top-3 finishes.

Devon Schultz highlighted the day by winning the pole vault after clearing 4.43m (14-6.25) and was followed by teammate Nick Walch, who came in second despite also clearing the same height. Both individuals cleared the mark on their second attempts. Schultz wins the tiebreaker as he cleared 4.28 meters on his first attempt while Schultz had to do so on his second.

Kaden Sadler came in third during the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:46.16 and was just five seconds back of a runner-up finish. It was 13 seconds faster than his seeded time coming in. Dylan Austad and Hayden Piskorski followed Sadler in fifth and eighth, respectively.

Freshman Chandler Berry captured a seventh-place finish in the javelin throw with a toss of 39.41m (129-03). Sophomore Abraham Christensen took ninth in the hammer throw with his best heave of 45.70m (149-11).

The final day of the annual event is set for Saturday. The day begins with the remaining multi-events starting at 9 a.m. followed by the remaining field events at 11 a.m. The running events get back on the track starting at 1 p.m. with the 100-meter dash prelims.