This week, we will continue to reveal our Drury Dozen – the top 12 moments from 2017-18 as voted on by members of the Drury University athletics media relations team that covered a variety of DU sports throughout the year.
The list on this countdown does not reflect the most significant moments from the year, although the biggest games/events certainly played a part in our decision. Ultimately, these were our favorite moments from the previous year and the ones that we will likely always associate with the 2017-18 sports season.
#4 – Claire McCune wins GLVC Cross Country championship
On Oct. 21, 2017, Claire McCune became the first Drury women's cross country runner in program history to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship – and she did it as a freshman.
The Springfield-New Covenant Academy product led the six-kilometer race in Kirksville, Missouri wire-to-wire and won by six seconds.
McCune was named the 2017 GLVC Women's Runner of the Year, and the Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year.
The championship capped a storybook start to McCune's career at Drury. She had Drury's best finish in a cross country race in five years when she came in second at Southwest Baptist in collegiate debut, she followed that by breaking a school record in the 5-k, and she was named the GLVC Women's Runner of the Week twice during the regular season before winning the league title.
Coverage of McCune's GLVC championship
Earlier in the countdown
#5 – DU women's swimming wins the GLVC title
#6 – Lady Panthers survive scare from UMSL in GLVC semifinals
#7 – Andrea Bazzoli win the national title in the 100 breaststroke
#8 – Drury women's tennis wins the GLVC title
#9 – DU men's tennis defeats Ferris St. in the NCAA-II 2nd round
#10 – Chaz Ferguson-Cooper wins the GLVC title in the 400 m. hurdles
#11 - Austin Simms ties a DU record with an 11-strikeout performance
#12 – Trevor Richards makes his MLB debut
