Hearting nears record, leads Buena Vista at Red Raider Open

Hailey Hearting came within 54 points of Buena Vista’s 37-year-old heptathlon record, and that near miss in Orange City gave the Beavers a clear spring benchmark as the outdoor season moved toward conference championships. Hearting placed second with 4,325 points at Northwestern College’s Red Raider Open on April 16-17, the best multi-event score BVU produced in the meet and a sign her all-around form is peaking at the right time.

Hearting’s score was built across the board. She finished third in the 100 hurdles, second in the long jump, first in the pole vault and first in the javelin, then added fourth-place finishes in the 800 meters and 200 meters, along with 10th in the shot put and sixth in the high jump. The field in Orange City included athletes from Benedictine College, the University of Sioux Falls, Dordt University, Waldorf University and Midland University, which made the result even more meaningful for a Buena Vista program testing itself against a deep regional field.

Ava Mills added another strong all-around performance for the Beavers, taking fifth in the heptathlon with 3,822 points. Mills, a sophomore from La Porte City, Iowa, also won the shot put and placed second in the high jump, giving Buena Vista another score-setter in the women’s lineup. Emma Wieblod added a personal best in the discus with a throw of 33.70 meters, while Megan Bakke and Payton Schermerhorn also posted notable results in the women’s events.

Buena Vista got production on the men’s side as well. Easton Hays qualified fastest for the 100-meter finals and finished second in the final, while Bryce Moquin took third. Corbin Webster ran a personal best in the steeplechase, and Nick Walch finished sixth in the pole vault, extending a weekend that showed BVU contributing points across sprints, distance and field events.

The weekend came in the first season under head coach Ty Hoover, who was hired Aug. 4, 2025, after three seasons at Adrian College to lead both the men’s and women’s track and field programs. With the American Rivers Conference Championships set for April 30-May 2 in Pella, the Red Raider Open gave Buena Vista a timely read on where its ceiling sits, and Hearting’s run at the school record showed it is higher than the final margin suggested.