STORM LAKE, Iowa (May 6, 2026) - The Buena Vista University athletic department held its annual Beaver Athletic Awards on May 3, in a ceremony that honored and recognized incredible achievements, performances and student-athlete accomplishments throughout the  2025-26 academic year.

Tim Gallagher, BVU Director of Development and Alumni Communications, emceed the event held inside of Anderson Auditorium.

The evening began by allowing the crowd to sit back and enjoy a video produced by the BVU Athletics Communications staff with photos and video highlights to capture the many memories from each sport during the year. From there, special awards and accolades were presented before each graduating senior was individually recognized to conclude the evening.

Community All-Star Award

Christian Voss

Awarded to an individual that has gone above and beyond to show a significant amount of support to Beaver athletics.

As an athletics communications student assistant, Christian Voss served as the play-by-play voice of BVU Athletics on live broadcasts for four years. He showed immense levels of passion, dedication, and professionalism during his time behind the microphone. Christian broadcasted an estimated 175+ games in his career and brought an exceptional amount of energy to each one.

Honor Society Recognition

BVU and the American Rivers Conference have partnered with the National Collegiate Athlete Honor Society - Chi Alpha Sigma - to recognize excellence in both athletics and academics. Student-athletes that are at least a junior and maintain a 3.5 or higher GPA are eligible for induction and receive resources and benefits exclusive for this group. This year, Buena Vista was represented with more than 40 individual inductees into the Honor Society.

Scholar Athlete Award

Presented to the top five graduates with the highest GPA among all senior student-athletes.

This year's recipients:

• Brooke Stellmaker
• Haley Wieck
• Keirsten Trayte
• Trevor Kruse
• Carson Krogulski

SAAC Faculty/Staff Award

Shane Maier,  Director of Athletic Performance

This award is presented by the BVU Student Athlete Advisory Committee and is aimed to recognize a faculty or staff member on campus that has supported its student-athletes in a variety of different ways throughout the academic year. Nominations for  the award were put forth by a group of representatives on the committee with the full slate of SAAC members then voting to select the winner. Senior Danika Demers, 2025-26 SAAC President, presented the award.

Spirit Award

Danika Demers, Women's Basketball

Tyler Bailiff, Men's Soccer

This award is presented to both one female and one male student-athlete who best displays the utmost enthusiasm, pride and dedication to both his or her team and the university all year long.

Danika Demers was a key component both on and off the court for women's basketball. She has been a member of the O-team for two years, including one of those as Co-Director, was the 2025-26 president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and has assisted or led many community volunteer efforts for the team throughout the year. On the court, Danika was the true facilitator of the offense and dished out 112 assists which were ninth-most in a single-season in program history, and her 397 career assists rank third-most all-time.

Tyler Bailiff brought energy and passion to the men's soccer team for the last four years. He served in roles of player, manager and student coach and embodied the blue and gold in all facets he was a part of. When he wasn’t helping the men's soccer program directly, he was busy helping to cheer on other teams and athletes across campus.

Beaver Fortitude Award

Alyssa Cathcart, Women's Soccer

Trevor Kruse, Men's Wrestling

This award is given to one female and one male student-athlete who overcame injury or adversity or made an inspirational comeback.

Alyssa Cathcart has shown great dedication to her sport and teammates. After she switching to women’s soccer in 2024, she made an immediate impact both on and off the field. Following a season-ending injury, she attacked her recovery and excelled as a captain. She was a key leader in establishing the teams' annual mental health awareness game. 

Trevor Kruse battled a severe back injury throughout the entire season. He fought through  adversity and did everything he could to make sure he was ready to go even when he wasn't fully healthy. 

Newcomer of the Year

Hailey Hearting, Track & Field

Patrick Heffernan, Cross Country and Track & Field

This award is given to one female and male student-athlete who has demonstrated superior performance throughout his or her first year as a student-athlete.

Hailey Hearting has already become one of the most decorated freshman in team history. Indoors, she holds the program’s top mark all-time for freshman in the long jump and ranks in the top eight in six others and set the school record in the pentathlon. Outdoors, she has set the program’s all-time mark in the heptathlon and javelin. 

Patrick Heffernan was the front runner in nearly every race for the cross country team throughout the fall. His best 8k time of t he year is ranked second in the program's top 10 list. He also had four top 10 performances during the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons. 

Impact Award

Mary Walker, Women's Basketball

Jackson Jones, Men's Basketball

This award is given to one female and male student-athlete who exemplifies or has made an impact to both his or her program or the University.

Mary Walker transferred to BVU from the junior college level and has became one the league’s most versatile players. She ranked 12th overall in scoring. She averaged 18.0ppg over the final three regular season games and helped BVU earn the number three seed in the conference tournament, its highest placement in two decades. She finished the year tied for the team lead in three-point baskets with 37.

Jackson Jones started the year coming off the bench, but eventually found his way back into the starting lineup. His senior year became his most consistent year, and he was a huge key for the team’s success even by being asked to play out of position all year.

Individual Performance of the Year

Maddy Raveling, Softball

Matthew Turpen, Men's Golf

This award goes to both a female and a male that showcased an outstanding individual performance or moment during the course of single competition throughout the year.

Maddy Raveling stepped to the plate with her team trailing by one run in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Unviersity of Dubuque. Aafter fouling off a couple pitches on a 3-and-2 count, she launched a game-winning walk-off home run for her first collegiate homer and give bvu a 6-5 victory. 

Matthew Turpen turned in a career low round of 5-under 67 during the final round of the Wartburg College Fall Invite in September. The round is the program’s individual lowest round in the last 32 years, at least. He helped lead the team to a school record low round of 285 as the Beavers placed second overall. 

Outstanding Athlete of the Year

Bradi Krager, Women's Basketball

Carter Sievers, Men's Basketball

These awards are presented to the female and male athlete that have demonstrated the overall most outstanding performances throughout his or her season.

Bradi Krager was a First Team All-Conference selection and helped lead the program to its highest overall finish in the conference standings in 20 years. She ranked eight in the conference in scoring, fifth in rebounding, ninth in field goal percentage, 10th in free-throw percentage, eighth in steals and third third in minutes. She scored double figures in 13 of the 16 games and had FOUR 20-point performances. Her 422 points scored this season ranked 20th on the program’s single-season list. She was also named A-R-C player of the week. Off the court, she was named a CSC Academic All-Dstrict selection.

Carter Sievers was also a First Team All-Conference selection. According to head coach Jeff Horner, Carter really took on a team leadership role and made the job easier for the coaching staff. He led the team and ranked second overall in the A-R-C in scoring, was fifth in three-point field goal percentage, ninth in free-throw percentage, first in made free-throws, fourth in assists, first in assist-to-turnover ratio and sixth in minutes per game. In the final game of the regular season, Sievers became the program’s 34th player to reach 1,000 career points.

Individual Award Winner Photos