GAINESVILLE, FL – LC State has nine individuals entered in 10 events and two relays that will be in action at the 2025 NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships in Gainesville, Fla., starting on Thursday. The three-day meet will be held at the Alachua County Sports and Events Center at Celebration Pointe Feb. 27-Mar. 1.
On the individual side, seniors Sydnie Zywina, London Kirk and Griffen Parsells all return after earning All-American honors at the national indoor meet last season. Zywina, a native of Orofino, Idaho, will compete in both the long jump and triple jump. She enters the meet ranked fifth in the triple jump, where she earned an All-American medal last year, with a mark of 12.02m. The senior is seeded eighth in the long jump at 5.78m.
Kirk and Parsells will take on mid-distance events. Kirk is ranked 13th in the 600m with a seed time of 1:19.79. He earned All-American honors in the 400m last season in both indoor and outdoor. Parsells returns to the 800m after placing sixth in the event last season. He is seeded eighth with a time of 1:52.28.
Emily Collins makes her return to nationals, this year in the 600m. Her school record time of 1:35.35 earned her the 11th seed in the event. Junior Grace Tiegs will run in her first individual event at nationals in the 1,000m. She is seeded 18th with a time of 3:01.25.
Warrior newcomers Camille Ussher and Damaris Kibiwot will make their national debuts first as part of the women’s distance medley relay. They will team up with Tiegs and Collins as the No. 15 seed with a time of 12:17.33. Ussher will run individually in the mile and is seeded 18th (5:11.93) and Kibiwot is the No. 10 seed in the 3,000m with her school-record time of 10:09.93.
Trenton Johnson will make his return to nationals in the triple jump. He enters the meet as the No. 25 seed with a mark of 14.39m. Kobe Wessels will run in the men’s 3,000m. He is seeded 15th with a time of 8:28.54.
The Warriors will run in the men’s distance medley relay. The group of Tristin O’Brien, Preston Cooper, Parsells and Wessels clocked a time of 12:17.33 earlier this season to earn the squad the No. 23 seed.
THE SCHEDULE
Johnson will get the weekend started on Thursday in the triple jump at 1:30 p.m. PT followed by both DMR prelims.
Friday will be jam packed with Ussher (mile), Collins (600m), Kirk (600m), Parsells (800m), Tiegs (1,000m), Kibiwot (3,000m) and Wessels (3,000m) in their preliminary races. Races will start at 8:45 a.m. PT. Zywina will compete in the lone final for LC State on the day in the long jump starting at 10 a.m. PT.
Zywina will compete in the triple jump on Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m. The rest of the schedule will be dependent on who advances to event finals.