BVU Celebrates Pioneers in Women’s Athletics During Panel Discussion at Homecoming

August 30, 2024

Two Buena Vista University Hall-of-Famers, three Beaver coaches, and a trio of former BVU student-athletes will join forces in presenting “Pioneers of Women’s Athletics: Celebrating the Women Who Forged the Way Forward,” a part of the Homecoming celebration at BVU on Sept. 27. The panel discussion, which is open to the public, takes place from 4-5 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium.

Panelists include the following: former Head Softball Coach Marge Willadsen, Assistant Volleyball Coach Janet Berry, Head Women’s Wrestling Coach Paige Storm ’15, and former Beaver student-athletes Marcia Holsinger ’74, Jeannie (Demers) Henningsen ’87, and Kelli Taylor-Noble ’04 ME ’07.

“At a time when women’s athletics continues to grow in popularity and interest at all levels, I’m excited to return to campus to share memories and offer gratitude on what it took to see our programs grow at BVU.”

Coach Marge Willadsen

“Prior to and immediately following the advent of Title IX legislation in the early 1970s, women’s athletics at Buena Vista centered around the late Harriet Henry, an Associate Professor of Health and Physical Education, who served BVU for 30 years and almost single-handedly developed and took a number of club sports and ushered them into intercollegiate competition for women,” says BVU Director of Athletics Amy Maier. “More than a half-century later, we celebrate Coach Henry’s memory while honoring those who continued to work to build the traditions of success we at Buena Vista University strive to maintain, not only on the courts and courses and fields of play, but in our classrooms, businesses, homes, and communities.”

Panelists will share memorable tales about sharing equipment, transportation, and facilities with students and their male counterparts who represented the Beavers in competition. They’ll recall adventurous road trips, championship celebrations, and reflect on how their experiences as student-athletes cemented lifelong friendships while shaping their lives, personally and professionally.

The discussion takes place during a BVU Homecoming weekend that pays homage to the 1984 Beaver softball team on the 40-year anniversary of its NCAA Division III National Championship, the lone team title in school history.

“At a time when women’s athletics continues to grow in popularity and interest at all levels, I’m excited to return to campus to share memories and offer gratitude on what it took to see our programs grow at BVU,” says Willadsen, an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Emeritus who resides in Arizona. “In those early days, we were sometimes searching for a diamond to play on and rounded up equipment and even a few players in the days prior to setting a basic practice and game schedule. Looking back, we can all celebrate the fact that, together, we helped build something very special that has endured and touched the lives of thousands of young people at Buena Vista University.”

The panelists range from Holsinger, a 1974 BVU graduate who competed in men’s swimming because there wasn’t a women’s program, to Storm, a 2015 BVU graduate and present-day pioneer, who just last fall directed the Beavers in their inaugural season in women’s wrestling.

For more information about BVU’s Homecoming celebration, go to bvu.edu/homecoming.

The following offers a look at the panelists involved in “Pioneers of Women's Athletics: Celebrating the Women Who Forged the Way Forward.”

Coach Marge Willadsen

Marge Willadsen served 28 seasons as Head Softball Coach at Buena Vista University. She closed out her coaching career in 2008 ranked eighth in victories among coaches in NCAA Division III history with a record of 569-447-2. Her Beaver teams reached the NCAA DIII Tournament finals twice, and won the National Championship in 1984. Her 1983 team reached the championship game of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) national softball tournament.

Willadsen, the National Coach of the Year in 1984 and 1996, was named the Iowa Conference Coach of the Year four times and Regional Coach of the Year four times. An Assistant Professor of Exercise Science and a BVU Hall-of-Famer, she also served as Assistant Director of Athletics and for 20 years was Head Coach in Women’s Tennis.

Coach Willadsen had the honor of directing 19 All-Americans, seven Academic All-Americans, and 86 Scholar All-Americans. In 1996, she was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Coach Janet Berry

Janet Berry is beginning her third season serving as Assistant Coach for the Buena Vista volleyball program this fall. In her first season back with the program in 2022, the Beavers finished third in the regular season conference standings before advancing into the American Rivers Conference Tournament match.

Berry served 26 years as Head Women’s Basketball coach from 1992-2018, and won 393 games in that span. She was named Iowa Conference Coach of the Year five times, as her teams won five Iowa Conference titles and one Iowa Conference Tournament. She directed five BVU teams to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, and on two occasions her teams advanced to the Sweet 16.  In 2005, after her Beaver team went undefeated in league play, Berry was named West Region Coach of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

Upon her retirement from the basketball sidelines, Coach Berry became the BVU Women’s Head Golf Coach in the spring of 2018 and served as BVU Director of Golf.  Early in her BVU career, she also served as Head Volleyball Coach for three seasons.

Coach Paige Storm

Paige Storm ’15 is the first coach to lead the Buena Vista University women’s wrestling program and begins her third season in 2024-25. During the team’s inaugural competition season in 2023-24, Storm helped guide three individual place winners in NCAA Regional competition.

Storm is a Spencer, Iowa, native and began wrestling in elementary school. She went on to become a four-year letterwinner in boys’ wrestling for Spencer High School from 2005-08.
Prior to high school, Paige Storm was a Folkstyle national champion in 2003 within the United States Girls Wrestling Association (USGWA) and a Freestyle national champion in 2003 and 2004.

In 2006, she became Iowa’s first two-time Junior women’s freestyle All-American and was named the Iowa Wrestling Federation’s Female Wrestler of the Year.

While attending BVU, Storm wrestled for a private club and earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology.

Marcia Holsinger

Marcia Holsinger ’74 attended Buena Vista University at the advent of women’s athletics for the Beavers. She earned varsity letters in five sports, having competed in volleyball from 1972-74, softball from 1972-74, track and field from 1972-74, women’s basketball in 1972-73, and swam on the men’s swimming team from 1973-74.

Due to Title IX being passed in 1973, Holsinger, a competitive swimmer as a high school student-athlete, was invited to swim on the men’s team to comply with the new regulations.

Holsinger taught herself to throw javelin and earned ribbons in both the javelin and softball throw in track meets across the Midwest. She placed second place in the javelin in the Iowa Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Commission State Tournament in 1974. She was a First Team All Io-Kota Conference volleyball player in 1973, and the first female named MVP for volleyball by the BV Club. In previous years, this award had been awarded only to men in their sports.

Holsinger served as a teacher, then spent nearly 20 years with the Girl Scouts of the USA, before becoming a Physical Therapy Assistant, and worked in healthcare for 18 years. In retirement, she has served her community as a Counselor for the Senior Health Insurance Information Program, aiding seniors as they seek to understand Medicare and health insurance. She earned the Governor’s Volunteer Award in 2022 for her service in that capacity.

Jeannie (Demers) Henningsen

Jeannie (Demers) Henningsen ’87 retired on June 30 from her position as a Principal with the Alta-Aurelia Community School District, capping a 34-year career in education. As an educator, Henningsen also served multiple sports as a coach, including softball, basketball, and volleyball. During 2022, she celebrated winning her 500th match on the volleyball court as a head coach.

During her undergraduate career at BVU, Henningsen earned All-America, All-Region, and All Iowa Conference accolades in basketball and softball. As a freshman third-baseman, Henningsen helped the softball team earn BVU’s lone team national championship in 1984. She later earned  National Small College Player of the Year honors in softball.

On the basketball court, Henningsen set the record for points among NCAA student-athletes, finishing her career with 3,171 points, an NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball record that stands to this day. She was a three-time First-Team All-American and helped guide the Beavers of Coach John Naughton ’50 to a league championship in 1985.

Henningsen, a BVU Hall of Fame inductee in 1998, also earned Academic All-American honors having fashioned a perfect 4.0 GPA in the classroom.

Kelli Taylor-Noble

Kelli Taylor-Noble ’04 ME ’07 came to Buena Vista University from Ponca, Neb., in 2000. She started for four years on the basketball court, and helped the team earn an Iowa Conference Championship and an Iowa Conference Tournament Title in 2003-04. The team advanced to the Sweet 16, the last women’s basketball team at BVU to do so.

Taylor-Noble, a four-year starter in basketball, earned All-Conference accolades in her playing days, and served as a team captain while playing for Coach Janet Berry.

An elementary education major, Taylor-Noble taught for one year, then returned to BVU to earn her Master of Education while serving as an Assistant Coach for Berry for two seasons. In her time away from campus, Taylor-Noble began her employment with State Farm Insurance at the Stacey Eddie State Farm Insurance Agency in Storm Lake. The position led Taylor-Noble to establish her own State Farm agency in Clear Lake, which she managed for five years.

State Farm appointed Taylor-Noble as an Agency Executive in Illinois in 2014. Three years ago, she assumed her current role as Vice President Agency Sales in the southeastern market of the United States, based in Georgia, becoming one of the youngest VPs in the history of State Farm Insurance.