GORHAM, Maine - Freshman Ryker Paradis (Lewiston, Maine) will represent the University of Southern Maine Huskies' men's track & field team in the shot put on Saturday, March 14 at the 2026 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala. The shot put will be held at 12:00 pm on day two of the competition.
 
Paradis, the 11th seed, is the only freshman in the field of 20 competitors. Since joining the Huskies in January, Paradis has set a new program record in the shot put at each of the four meets that he has competed in while also winning the event title at every meet. He first broke the school record in the shot put with a throw of 15.71m to win the Husky Invitational in his first meet with the team. Paradis then added the Maine State title to his resume with a throw of 16.49m before shattering the Little East Conference Championship record in the event with a heave of 16.69m to win the conference title. His strong performance at the championship meet earned him the LEC Field Rookie of the Year award. He added one more title at the DIII New England Championships with a massive throw of 17.41m to jump into the top 10 nationally and solidify his place in the upcoming national championship meet.
 
As the 11th seed, Paradis will be competing in the first flight on Saturday with the competitors ranked 11th through 20th. Each competitor will have three attempts, and the top nine performers will advance to the finals after both flights are competed. The top nine will then each get three additional attempts.
 
The national championship field includes five returning First Team All-Americans in St. Scholastica's Trent Beseth, Wisconsin-Stout's Karter Rashke, Concordia-Moorhead's Cooper Folkestad, Loras' DreAnthony Jackson and SUNY Cortland's Isaiah Brunache. Of the five, only Jackson will be competing in the same flight as Paradis.