ELKHART, Ind. – The Drury men's swimming & diving team captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship on Saturday, while the women's team finished second as the league concluded their final day of competition on Saturday at the Elkhart Health & Aquatics Center in Elkhart, Indiana.
 
The DU men's squad won the title with a meet record 1,652.5 points. Indianapolis was second with 1,546.5 points, and Lindenwood came in third with 1,393. The championship marks Drury's fifth league championship since the GLVC starting sponsoring swimming & diving in 2013-14. 
 
The Drury women's team had their streak of four straight GLVC championships snapped but managed a third-place finish with 1,741 points. Lindenwood narrowly won the women's title with 1,781 points as Indianapolis finished just three points behind.
 
Men's Highlights
The Panthers moved into position for their conference championship in Saturday's first event as Lucas Lima came in fourth in the 1650 Freestyle with a time of 15:32.60.
 
Drury then racked up points in the 100 Free with three of the top five finishers. Freshman Karol Ostrowski was second and finished just 0.18 seconds off of the lead with a time of 42.75. Ostrowski, and the winner, Greg Lichisky of McKendree, both swam under the meet record time. Alex Bowen was fourth in the event (43.80), while Kham Glass was fifth (43.85).
 
Nathan Bighetti gave the Panthers a first-place finish as the junior from Brazil won the 100 Backstroke. Bighetti took the event with a time of 1:43.78. His teammates Andrew Rodriguez came in third (1:45.89), and Ahmed Wahby was seventh (1:46.22).
 
Cole Vanden Hoek picked up points coming in fourth in the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 1:59.23.
 
The Panthers capped the championship with a win in the 400 Free Relay. Glass, Wahby, Bowen, and Ostrowski, teamed up for a time of 2:54.23 and won by 1.15 seconds over Indianapolis. 
 
Women's Highlights
Drury's final day at the GLVC championships started with a 1-2 finish in the 1650 Free. Allison Weber, a junior from Marshall, Missouri, won the event and set a GLVC record with a time of 16:39.89. Marina Amorim was second, completing the race in 16:51.71.
 
The Panthers had two top-five finishers in the 100 Free as Yasmin Preusse was third (50.67), and Kasia Rogowska was fifth (50.92).
 
Laura Pareja won the conference title in the 200 Backstroke with a time of 1:58.52, edging Katie McCoy of Indianapolis by 0.04 seconds.
 
Bec Cross was the runner-up in the 200 Breaststroke as she got the wall in 2:14.03, just 0.31 seconds behind the winner.
 
The Panthers came in third in the 400 Free Relay. Indianapolis broke their own GLVC record posting a time of 3:20.70 to finish nearly three seconds ahead of Lindenwood for second. Drury had Josie Bushell, Preusse, Mackenzie Wieberg, and Cross combine for a time of 3:26.28.
 
 
Drury will host the Last Chance meet on Feb. 27 at the Breech Pool before competing in the NCAA-II Championships March 17-20 in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
 
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