Drury University Athletics

Kathleen Hayes-Owen was the first, and is the only, female in Drury swimming/diving history to be part of four NCAA-II national championship teams. After a standout prep and club career in Oklahoma, Hayes came to Drury in the fall of 1996. Over the course of her four-year Panther career, Hayes was a 24-time NCAA-II All-American; she won three individual NCAA-II national titles; and, she was a member of three NCAA-II national championship relay teams. Her performance at the 1999 NCAA-II national meet is at the top of the list in terms of singularly dominant performances. The 1999 national meet MVP, Hayes claimed three NCAA-II national titles that year by winning the 200 free (a new Drury record), the 500 free and the 200 butterfly. She was part of the 1999 national championship and Drury record-setting 800 free relay team and the 200 and 400 medley relay teams which finished second at the national meet. She also finished fifth in the 100 freestyle event that year. A NCAA-II Honda Award nominee for her academic excellence, Hayes graduated on May 14, 2000 with a double major: German and Biology. She then earned her masters in education from Drury (2003) while serving as a graduate assistant and in 2005 she earned a masters degree in health sciences from the University of Missouri. She is now an echocardiographer for St. John’s Hospital Cardiology Clinic. She and her husband, Jason Owen, who is the assistant swimming coach at Drury, live in Springfield.