Rick Grayson – Men's Golf
Grayson is a Park men's golf alumnus, who graduated in 1976. An overwhelming wave of support came in for Grayson, speaking on behalf of his character and his foundational involvement in the Park men's golf program's success.
The 1976 season was led by 2018 Wall of Honor recipient, Head Coach Dale Lauritzen, but a key figure to the team was Grayson. The team was comprised of Jim Leonard, Kevin Addington, John and Billy Burton, and Carrie Swift. According to Leonard, "All the members of that team, then and now, recognize Rick as our leader and critical to our success".
The 1976 season was a terrific year for Park men's golf, including two tournament wins at the William Jewell Invitational and then none other than the NAIA District 16 Championship to qualify for the NAIA Men's Golf National Championship in Burlington, N.C.
Acknowledging good character is a common thread with Park Wall of Honor recipients and Grayson is no exception. Lauritzen had this to say in support of Grayson, "Without a doubt the chief characteristics of Rick has been his honesty and respect toward others".
Following his time at Park, Grayson quickly grew in his knowledge and ability to teach the game to others. Over time he has collected extensive accolades to back up his role as a Professional Golf Association teaching professional. He is a PGA of America National Award Winner – Junior Golf Leader, and was a five-time Midwest Section PGA Teacher of the Year.
Coinciding with these many honors, to extensive to name all, Grayson has been elevated to a space among the best of the best as a member of the Midwest Section PGA Hall of Fame, the Ozarks Golf Hall of Fame, and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
Grayson is the founder of the Heart of the Ozarks Junior Golf Foundation and the funds raised have gone towards providing free golf for kids, free golf clubs and instruction, building facilities for beginners, and more. The Midwest Section President, Steve King summarized Grayson's impact by saying, "Rick has been known as a great golf instructor for many years, but I believe his greatest accomplishment in golf has been what he has done for growing the game and the amazing things he has done for our area youth."
2003 Men's Volleyball Team
The 2003 Men's Volleyball Team is the next to be recognized in the Wall of Honor Class of 2023. The Pirates were led by Bertil Wamelink in his fifth and final year as the Head Coach of the Park men's volleyball program. He is the first head coach in Park's all-time records beginning in 1999.
Roster
Head Coach: Bertil Wamelink
Assistant Coach: Lorenzo Barrientez
Student Assistant Coach: Nathan Scherman
Student Athletic Trainer: Joe Anderson
# - Name
1 - Seidu Ajanako
2 - Marco Rabello
3 - Mladen Bundalo
4 - Eduardo Collier
5 - Fabricio Teixeira
6 - Skye Gosewich
7 – Kelvin Bush
8 - Gustavo Rocha
9 - Marcelo De Ugarte
10 - Jeff Peterson
11 – Wilfredo Ponce
12 - Walker Swan
14 – Aaron Anderson
15 – Rida Lyammouri
The 2003 squad would set the tone of what Park men's volleyball would be all about in the coming years. The team had its best record of 28-5 since starting the program and was the most wins in school history until the 2007 season.
As fate would have it, this year is the 20
th-year anniversary of Park's 2003 NAIA National Invitational Tournament Championship, the first national championship won by a team in Park Athletics history.
The season started on a high note with a nine-match winning streak and then Park surged again in the post-season, earning a 2003 MAMVIC Conference Tournament Championship and closed out their national championship run on an eight-match winning streak. Of those eight matches, six were sweeps including a 3-0 victory over Missouri Baptist University to cap off the season.
Two of Park's losses were to Lindenwood that year, which was the team Park overcame in the NAIA tournament semifinals, 3-2.
The single-season program record for kills still stands from the 2003 season when Seidu Ajanako fired 534 kills for an average of 5.14 kills per set. Following up his teammate that season was Fabricio Teixeira who recorded 318 kills in 2003. Teixeira is also No. 5 in hitting percentage in a season at .418
Getting the ball effectively to his teammates was Gustavo Rocha, as he amassed 1,197 assists, the second most in a single-season in program history.
Ajanako was able to score at will off the serve that season with 77 service aces in 2003, a single-season program record that still stands.
Aaliyah Brown – Women's Track & Field
Brown was a four-year star for the Park women's track & field program from the 2016 season through her 2019 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship appearance. She came to Park from St. Louis, Mo. where she attended Rockwood Summit High School.
She instantly emerged as a special talent in women's throwing events highlighted by a 2016 NAIA Women's Outdoor Track & Field All-American award in shotput her freshman year. In the weeks leading up to the national meet she was on the top of the podium as an indoor and outdoor American Midwest Conference Champion in shotput.
One might say that she kept her pace up for the next three years, sweeping the indoor and outdoor AMC Conference Championships in shotput as an eight-time AMC individual champion. She came away with her ninth AMC individual throwing title with her 1
st place finish in the weight throw at the 2019 Indoor AMC Championship.
She had three 7
th place finishes in her first three years at NAIA outdoor nationals in the shotput and in her senior year she was .14m away from an individual NAIA Indoor National Championship in shotput with a 2
nd place finish with a mark of 14.53m.
Throughout her career she accumulated five NAIA All-American awards and became Park's all-time record holder in the indoor shotput, outdoor shotput, indoor weight throw, and hammer throw.
Outside the athletic arena, she made Park proud and received the Louisa Davidson Hinde / Carolyn Hinde Zarkaryan Memorial Award in 2019. The award is given to those who best represent the spirit of Park University by promoting in others that quality of excellence that has always been associated with a Park education.
Brown graduated from Park in December 2018, and also earned a Master of Arts in Communication and Leadership (MACL) in May 2021.
Kelly DeFeo – Women's Golf
The Park women's golf program first got its start 20 years ago in 2003-04 with Kelly DeFeo taking the helm as the first head coach in program history.
For six seasons she laid the groundwork that set up Park women's golf for continued excellence. As Roxanne Chadwell puts it, a former Park women's golfer from 2006-09, "The history of the women's golf program at Park cannot be told without including Kelly's name".
DeFeo came into her role at Park backed by eight years as a Class A PGA member with the Midwest Section. Her knowledge and passion for the game was on display immediately in her first year. In the program's inaugural season, DeFeo guided Katie Johnson to a 2004 MCAC Conference Tournament Individual Championship and an MCAC Player of the Year award.
This was only the beginning for DeFeo and Park women's golf. Over her six seasons, she coached three of the four current individual career scoring leaders in Park's all-time records, Plern Promboobpa, Katie Johnson, and Ashley Nicks.
Katie Johnson would become a three-time conference player of the year and an NAIA All-American Honorable Mention recipient twice under DeFeo's leadership. Johnson had this endorsement of her coach, "I can't help but think if any of that would have happened if we had had a different coach. A great coach leads, inspires, helps, and shows kindness and empathy. Kelly showed all of that over and over, with each of her players."
In her fifth season, she led Park to its first-ever NAIA Women's Golf National Championship Tournament in the Spring of 2008. Leading into the national tournament appearance, Park women's golf won two consecutive MCAC Conference Tournament Championships starting in 2006-07.
The Pirates would win their first NAIA Region IV Championship in 2008 to earn their spot at NAIA nationals where they would finish 21
st at Lake San Marcos Country Club.
It went beyond performance on the course for DeFeo. In her last season at Park, the Pirates were top notch in the classroom as the 2008-09 NAIA Scholar Team of the Year with a 3.97 Team GPA.
Celebrating Wall of Honor Class of 2023
Park University will host a Wall of Honor Celebration during Homecoming weekend at 3pm on Friday, September 29 at the Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel. That same evening after a women's volleyball match in Breckon Sports Center against Baker University, there will be a pep rally and alumni reception. The next day, on Saturday, September 30, the Wall of Honor inductees will be recognized in between the women's and men's soccer games at approximately 2:15pm on Julian Field against Mount Mercy University.
Beginning in 2015, this is the eighth year that Park has made inductions into the Wall of Honor. The Wall of Honor is comprised of 40 individuals/teams that embody everything that Park University stands for and is proud of in its athletics history. This year the Park University Athletic Department welcomes the addition of Rick Grayson, the 2003 Park Men's Volleyball Team, Aaliyah Brown, and Kelly DeFeo, whose worthiness for this recognition has been confirmed by the success they have brought to our institution and the excellent conduct of character they live by.
#ParkUNation
