Drury Panthers host Maryville for final home series
The Drury Panthers host Maryville in a four-game series this weekend that may shape the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship race. Game one of the series is set for Friday at 5 p.m. with a 1 p.m. doubleheader scheduled for Saturday and the series concludes with a game on Sunday. The threat of inclement weather could adjust the daily schedule and the start times.
Drury enters the weekend in second place and only one game out of first in the GLVC. The Panthers are 24-16 and 21-7 in the conference. Indianapolis took over the league lead last weekend when they swept Maryville in a fourgame set and the Greyhounds are now 27-14 and 23-5 in the GLVC. The Saints, who have been nationally ranked most of this season, dropped to third in the standings are are 27-14 and 20-8 in the league.
Following the four-game series this weekend, four games remain in the conference schedule and Drury faces Southwest Baptist for four games in Bolivar, May 1-3.
The Panthers are led offensively by Luke Burk. The Galena native broke Drury's record for home runs in a season and ranks fourth in the GLVC with 14 homers. He is also tied for second in the conference with 52 RBIs and carries a .328 batting average.
Mellie Wijk named Academic All-American for women’s swimming
Drury women's swimmer Mellie Wijk was named a First Team Academic AllAmerican by the College Sports Communicators (previously known as CoSIDA) on Tuesday. The award combines academic and athletic success in the 2023-24 season. Those eligible must have a minimum of a 3.50 cumulative grade point average in addition to producing outstanding achievements in the pool during the season.
Wijk was the Great Lakes Valley Conference Swimmer of the Year this season, winning six conference titles and finishing in second once. At the NCAA-II National Championship, she ranked fifth in the nation in points accumulated and was the national runner-up in the 200 Fly and on the 400 Free Relay team. She earned seven All-American awards and came in third in three events.
The junior from Stockholm, Sweden, is a Communications major with a 3.76 grade point average.
Hunter Jowers finishes as GLVC Runner-Up at GLVC Championship
Drury men's golfer Hunter Jowers finished second, and the Panthers tied for fifth as a team at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship at the par-72, 6,938-yard Outlaw Golf Course at the Paradise Pointe Golf Complex in Smithville, Missouri on Monday.
Jowers finished 54 holes from stroke play with a two-under-par 214 and ended the tournament one shot behind medalist Cyril Henault from MissouriSt. Louis. Jowers was three-par after 36 holes on Sunday and entered Monday's final round tied for fourth. The junior from Jonesboro, Arkansas, made up a three-shot deficit during the tournament and forged a three-way tie for the tournament lead with three holes remaining. Henault, who was tied for first at the start of the third round, held off the field to win and finished with a three-under-par 213. Jowers finished one shot ahead of Missouri S&T's Carl Miltun, who came in third.