The Heart of America Athletic Conference Council of Presidents and commissioner Lori Thomas announced that the application for membership from Park University has been approved.
Currently a member of the American Midwest Conference, Park will immediately join the conference to participate in administrative matters and strategic planning with athletic teams beginning participation in the 2020-21 academic year. This addition will bring the league number back up to 14 members and will raise the number of institutions who have held membership in the conference at any point during its history to 20.
“We are proud to officially welcome Park into the Heart of America Athletic Conference,” Thomas said in a press release. “We have a strong desire to balance the athletics and academic interests of our student-athletes and Park is an outstanding member institution that shares the same values and will further strengthen our conference.”
The Pirates will field teams that will compete in the following conference sponsored sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s track & field, and men’s and women’s volleyball. They also offer beach volleyball and eSports.
Park becomes the first institution to join the Heart since 2015. The conference currently consists of the following institutions: Baker University (Baldwin City, Kan.), Benedictine College (Atchison, Kan.), Central Methodist University (Fayette, Mo.), Clarke University (Dubuque, Iowa), Culver-Stockton College (Canton, Mo.), Evangel University (Springfield, Mo.), Graceland University (Lamoni, Iowa), Grand View University (Des Moines, Iowa), MidAmerica Nazarene University (Olathe, Kan.), Missouri Valley College (Marshall, Mo.), Mount Mercy University (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Peru State College (Peru, Neb.), and William Penn University (Oskaloosa, Iowa).
Wall of Fame
Last month the Park inducted its newest class to the Athletic Wall of Honor.
Those inducted included Pat Fayard, Jon Meriweather, Ben Popoola and Wendy Romero.
Fayard, the current assistant to the athletic director, has been a Park employee since 1985 and she has served in her current role since 2000. She was also the cheerleading coach from 1987 to 2000.
Meriweather was a men’s basketball player from 2008-2009, earning All-American honors both times. He averaged 20.9 points and 10.3 rebounds per game as a senior.
Popoola was the men’s soccer coach, women’s soccer coach and athletic director, holding the roles from 1983 to 1996. He was the men’s soccer coach from 1983 to 1995, while guiding the women’s program from 1988 to 1995. He was the athletic director during those stints as well, holding that job from 1984 to 1996.
Romero, who is currently pursuing an MBA at Park, helped lead the Pirates to a 2014 volleyball championship, a 40–0 season. She was the NAIA national player of the year in 2016, helping Park advance to the national semifinal that year.
Cross Country goes to Columbia
The Pirates competed in the Columbia College Show-Me State Showdown on Saturday, Oct. 5. The men’s team took sixth, while the women’s team was seventh.
Allison Gibson took third place for Park, while Park Hill South graduate Brendan Briody took sixth for the men’s.
Platte County product Nathan Straubel, a transfer from UMKC, took 34th for Park and Park Hill graduate Jena Halbeck was 52nd for the women’s team.
The Pirates will compete in the final meet of the season on Oct. 26 at the NAIA Mid-States Invitational in Winfield, Kan.
Notes
The Park women’s golf team took second at the Columbia College Cougar Classic on Oct. 8 and Laetitia Solombrino took ninth for the Pirates. The Park volleyball team, No. 6 in the nation, swept Hannibal-LaGrange on Saturday, Oct. 12 to move to 6-0 in league play. The Pirates honored seniors Celina Montiero, Maren (Mair) Roper, Lorrayne Silva, Tijana Sisic and Paula Louro prior to the game. Roper is a Platte County graduate. … Montiero was named the NAIA national defender of the week on Tuesday, Oct. 8. Current Park-Gilbert athletic director Steve Wilson took the same job at Kansas Wesleyan. On Thursday, Oct. 10, the school in Salina, Kan., hired Wilson, who is a native of Salina. Wilson worked for Park for the past 12 years, 11 at the Parkville campus. He was the associated athletic director for media relations and compliance, while also serving as the sports information director in his tenure. From 2013-2017, the former Platte City resident served as the women’s golf coach.