The Park University indoor track & field program sent a large group of qualifiers to Gainesville, Fla. for the 2025 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships on Thursday through Saturday.
Park women's indoor squad sent
Rosjai Curtis to represent in the long jump and triple jump and she scored eight points to tie Park in 28
th place.
Curtis waited until the second day of the championships to get to her NAIA national debut, and it was a performance worthy of a national championship for the freshman from Shawnee Mission North High School. She took 4
th in the long jump with a 5.83m distance.
The 3-time Heart Champ, from the conference meet two weeks prior, also represented in the 60m dash with a time of 7.80 for 18th.
Her triple jump distance of 12.01m then secured 6
th place for her second All-America distinction of the weekend, as a top eight finisher.
On the men's side,
Ahmad Evans got Park going with 22
nd in the triple jump with a mark of 13.99m on Thursday. This is his second trip to NAIA Nationals, as he qualified in the indoor triple jump and 4x400m relay in 2024.
He would make another appearance in the long jump 6.38m distance in the long jump.
Park then had its 4x800m relay team four spots away from qualifying in for the final in 12
th place with a 7:41.44. The relay team was made up of
Ethan Willmann, Palmer O'Connor,
Tom Kuehnel, and
Alexander Caines. This is the second of the last three years that Park has qualified their 4x800m relay team and the senior, Willmann, makes his second appearance at indoor nationals in this event.
Despite qualifying for the 4x400m relay, the Pirates did not compete in the event and the next group up was the men's Distance Medley Relay team on Thursday. Again, Willmann and Kuehnel represented Park, and then
Chase Housh and
Manuel Reyes got their opportunity as well. This group turned in a 10:33.78 for 24
th. Housh represented in the 2024 indoor national championships with Park's 4x400m relay team and
Manuel Reyes had his first opportunity to compete at nationals this year, but previously was an alternate for the 2023 4x800m relay team his freshman year.
Alexander Caines and
Shemar Caines have both qualified for NAIA Indoor National Championships their entire careers at Park. Alexander in his third indoor national championship, after already running in the 4x800m relay, took on the 600m event on Saturday and missed out on a qualifying time to the final by .15 seconds. His time of 1:20.05 was good for a 12
th place finish. Alexander also qualified for the 800m event, but did not run in the event during the meet.
Shemar Caines came in moments later with a 1:21.31 for 19
th in the 600m. This is the second time he has competed at indoor nationals, previously qualifying in the 4x400m relay last year.
Another near qualifier to the finals was freshman Palmer O'Connor, who was .65 seconds off 8
th place in the 1,000m. In his first national championship, he crossed in a time of 2:27.31 for 10
th place. The Heart 1,000m champion broke the Park 1,000m school record again at nationals with his time.
Willmann competed in his third event of the meet in the 1,000m, finishing in 18
th with a 2:33.06.
2025 NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships Results
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