LOUISVILLE, Ky.- Drury women's cross country runner Claire McCune won the individual Great Lakes Valley Conference championship for the second consecutive year, and the Panthers team had their best finish in program history at the league championship meet on Saturday at Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky.
 
The Panthers finished third as a team with 114 points. Previously, Drury's best finish in the conference championship was in 2006 when they came in fifth. The Panthers came in sixth last year and came in 13th in 2015.
 
Indianapolis won the GLVC with 63 points while Truman State was second with 103.
 
After winning the conference title last year as a freshman, Claire McCune won her second straight championship and shattered a school record in a 6-k race as she crossed the finish line in 21:14.92. The Springfield-New Covenant Academy product won the event by nearly eight seconds over senior Karly Gawarecki from Bellarmine.
 
McCune also broke Drury's school record by 13 seconds. Erin Dolan, a Drury Sports Hall of Fame inductee, had owned the previous mark since 2012 with a time of 21:27.
 
The win was McCune's third victory in a meet this season and the fourth win of her career. She also maintained an unbeaten streak against Division II runners this season. NCAA-I runners from Tulsa, Arkansas and Wichita State are the only competitors that have finished ahead of McCune in 2018. 
 
Following the race, McCune was named the GLVC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Year for the second straight season. Last year, she became the first Drury women's runner to win an individual conference championship and now has her second title in as many years. 
 
The Panthers had two other runners finish in the top 15 to earn all-conference honors. Katie McCune came in 12th with a time of 22:57.50, Drury's eighth-best time in program history. Ia Vidal completed the run in 23:05.31 and came in 15th. Vidal's time was the 10th best mark ever at Drury.
 
Nina Eigenblut finished 25th with a time 23:31.87 and Haley Heavner rounded out Drury's scoring finishing 67th with a time of 24:53.35.
 
"Claire got pushed today, but she was impressive," said Drury head coach Jamie Moreno. "Our team had a great race. Katie McCune has been hurt, but she stepped up big-time for us today."
 
The Panthers are back in action on Nov. 17 when they compete in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional in Hillsdale, Michigan. 


 
#allweDUiswin