Park University Athletics closes out 2024-25 as the Runner-Up in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Commissioner's Cup, announced by the conference on Monday.

Park earned a .716 in the standings and only trailed MidAmerica Nazarene University by five points. With a .721, the Pioneers are the back-to-back winners of the Heart Commissioner's Cup.

This is the best finish for the Pirates in the Heart Commissioner's Cup since joining the conference in 2020-21. The award was established not too long before Park's entrance into the conference with the inaugural cup awarded in 2018-19.

In the last three years, the Pirates have placed 8^th twice and 11^th in 2022-23. To put it in perspective, Park was in 6^th place in the 2024 Fall standings, so a strong winter and spring from the Pirates pushed them up four spots to 2^nd place for the final tally.

A key to Park's success with finishing in the top half of the conference in nearly all sports sponsored by the Heart and quantity of conference tournament appearances. The standings, in effect, show how well each school did against conference opponents.

Park's team's that made the Heart post-season play include, men's soccer, women's volleyball, Esports League of Legends, women's basketball, men's basketball, men's volleyball, softball, and baseball. The only two programs that did not qualify for Heart post-season was women's soccer and Esports Rocket League, and both were on the bubble until the final game of the regular season.

Of the sports that all Heart teams make appearances at their respective Heart Championships, Park performed at a high level and only was outside of the top half of the conference in women's cross country, but once again was in the mix at 7^th place.

Park women's volleyball was the only program to make their conference tournament semifinal, while the Pirates were led by runner-up finishes in men's cross country and men's golf.

See the Heart release here and continue reading to understand how the commissioner's cup is calculated.

The 13 Heart schools earn points throughout the season contributing to the Commissioner's Cup for their finish in the 25 Heart sponsored sports of: men's cross country, women's cross country, women's volleyball, football, men's soccer, women's soccer, women's basketball, men's basketball, men's indoor track & field, women's indoor track & field, men's volleyball, men's wrestling, women's wrestling, cheer, dance, men's bowling, women's bowling, baseball, softball, men's golf, women's golf, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, men's outdoor track & field and women's track & field.

Each conference regular season champion for the following sports earned a maximum amount of points based on the amount of teams participating in that sport. Then that number is divided by the amount of teams participating in that sport: Women's volleyball, football, men's soccer, women's soccer, women's basketball, men's basketball, men's volleyball, baseball, women's lacrosse and men's lacrosse and softball. For example: Women's Soccer Regular Season, Central Methodist earned 12 points out of 12 teams competing and they earned a 1.00 percentage.
12/12 = 1.00 – Percentage (First Place)
11/12 = .91 – Percentage (Second Place)

The same formula was put in place for the following sports and their finishes by Heart teams in the respective Heart Conference Championships: Men's cross country, women's cross country, men's indoor track & field, women's indoor track & field, men's wrestling, women's wrestling, cheer, dance, men's bowling, women's bowling, men's golf, women's golf, men's outdoor track & field and women's outdoor track & field. For example: Cheer Heart Conference Champion, Missouri Valley earned 9 points out of 9 teams competing and they earned a 1.00 percentage.
9/9 = 1.00 – Percentage (First Place)
8/9 = .88 – Percentage (Second Place)

To compile the final list of the 2024-25 Heart Commissioner's Cup Standings, each team's percentage in each sport they compete in was added up and divided by the amount of total sports they compete in. Final results are an average cumulative Heart finish for each institution in every conference sport that they sponsor.

Previous Winners:
2024-25 – MidAmerica Nazarene University
2023-24 – MidAmerica Nazarene University
2022-23 - Grand View University
2021-22 - Grand View University
2020-21 - Grand View University
2019-20 - Central Methodist University
2018-19 - Benedictine College