2025 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Championships
- Dates: Tuesday, February 11–Saturday, February 15
- Location: Elkhart Health and Aquatics, Elkhart, IN
- Defending Champions: Drury women (1x); Indy men (1x)
- Live Results
- Live Video: GLVC Sports Network
- Championship Central
- Teams: Drury, Indianapolis, Lewis, Maryville, McKendree, Missouri S&T (men only), Missouri-St. Louis, Quincy, Rockhurst, Truman State*, William Jewell
- Complete Results
Women’s Meet
Courtesy: GLVC
ELKHART, Ind. – Drury University won the program’s ninth Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship at the Elkhart Health and Aquatics on Saturday night. The Panthers have secured nine of the 12 league titles since the sport became sponsored by the Conference in 2014.
Drury University scored (1,996 points) for the win, besting this year’s runner-up, University of Indianapolis (1,921). McKendree University (1,180.5) finished in third place, while Lewis University (757) and University of Missouri-St. Louis (738) rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively. Truman State University (679) and William Jewell College (521) placed sixth and seventh, respectively, while Rockhurst University (500.5), Quincy University (399), and Maryville University (136) completed the 10-team field.
A total of eight women’s record was broken over the course of the five-day event with two broken on the final day. Indianapolis’ Andrea Gomez Espinoza started the finals by setting a new league record in the 1650 yard freestyle with a time of 16:24.18. Her Greyhound teammate Kirabo Namutebi, continued the winning for Indianapolis by taking gold in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 49.92. Mia Krstevska made it three Indianapolis victories in a row when she won the 200 yard backstroke in a time of 1:56.84. Jonette Laegreid put a halt to the Greyhounds victory streak when she not only won but also set a new GLVC record in the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 2:09.28. The final women’s event of the championships did not fail to live up to expectations as both Drury and Indianapolis touched the wall at the same time in the 400 free relay. The Drury team of Kirsten Lee, Nikol Maniko, Ellie Walker, and Mellie Wijk tied Indianapolis’ Kirabo Namutebi, Andrea Paaske, Caroline Reinke, and Andrea Gomez Espinoza with both squads setting times of 3:21.81.
At the conclusion of the meet, Drury’s Wijk was named the GLVC Swimmer of the Year, while her Panther teammate Laegreid was recognized as GLVC Freshman of the Year by the league coaches, who also voted Drury’s Head Coach Brian Reynolds as GLVC Coach of the Year. UIndy’s Alexis Lumaj earned GLVC Diver of the Year honors, after Lumaj won both the 1-meter event and the 3-meter gold. Other than Diver of the Year, which is awarded to the diver(s) who earns the most total team points, the postseason honors are voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches. Per GLVC Bylaws, coaches are not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.
The league coaches also selected Missouri-St. Louis as the recipient of the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award in women’s swimming and diving, while 10 student-athletes were named GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honorees. These individuals must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees from full-time GLVC member institutions are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.
Swimmer of the Year: Mellie Wijk, DU
Diver of the Year: Alexis Lumaj, UINDY
Freshman of the Year: Jonette Laegreid, DU
Coach of the Year: Brian Reynolds, DU
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
Missouri-St. Louis
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP INDIVIDUAL AWARD HONOREES
Claire Conover, DU
Kyra Hall, UINDY
Meghan Bandy, LEWIS
Karen Bistrain-Diaz, MU
Atzi Gomez, MCK
Audrey Lantz, UMSL
Claire McDaris, QU
Bella Teaford, RU
Taylor Graham, TSU
Eve Wiltse, WJC
Men’s Meet
Courtest: GLVC
ELKHART, Ind. – Drury University was crowned with its seventh Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship on Saturday night at the Elkhart Health and Aquatics.
The Panthers scored a total of 1,770 points for the win, besting this year’s runner-up McKendree University (1,734.5) by 35.5 points. University of Indianapolis finished in third with 1,407 points, while Missouri S&T (844) and Lewis University (812.5) rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively. University of Missouri-St. Louis (602.5) and Rockhurst University (516) claimed sixth and seventh, respectively. Coming in at eighth and ninth were Quincy University (417) and William Jewell College (408.5), while Truman State University (235) and Maryville University (157) rounded out the 11-team field.
A total of 12 men’s records were broken over the course of the five-day event, including three on the final day of competition. Drury’s Israel Zavaleta started the points scoring off for the day with a win in the Men’s 1-meter diving. Indianapolis’ Cedric Buessing continued his great weekend by winning the 1650 yard freestyle in 15:04.27. Yuri Cabral from Drury gave the Panthers more points on their way to a title, with the sophomore winning in a time of 43.51. Patryck Rozenek from McKendree set a new league record in the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 1:43.04. Following him in the record breaking streak was Indianapolis’ Jeremias Pock, who broke the 200 yard breaststroke record by more than three seconds with his time of 1:52.08. To cap off the night, the McKendree 400 relay team of Vova Gavrysh, Arthur Souza, Alireza Yavari, and Tyson Upton broke the 20th and last record of the 2025 championships with a time of 2:52.88.
At the conclusion of the meet, UIndy’s Buessing four-peated as the GLVC Swimmer of the Year, while Drury’s Israel Zavaleta was recognized as GLVC Diver of the Year. Additionally, McKendree’s Gavrysh was named GLVC Freshman of the Year, and Bearcats’ head coach Jimmy Tierney was voted by his peers as GLVC Coach of the Year. Other than Diver of the Year, which is awarded to the diver(s) who earns the most total team points, the postseason honors are voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches. Per GLVC Bylaws, coaches are not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.
The coaches also selected Missouri S&T as the recipient of the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award in the sport, while 11 student-athletes were named GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honorees. These individuals must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees from full-time GLVC member institutions are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.
All postseason honorees can be found below.
Swimmer of the Year: Cedric Buessing, UINDY
Diver of the Year: Israel Zavaleta, DU
Freshman of the Year: Vova Gavrysh, MCK
Coach of the Year: Jimmy Tierney, MCK
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
Missouri S&T
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Colby Hughes, DU
Yaaseen Yunus, UINDY
Amadeusz Kielczewski, LEWIS
Hank Word, MU
Joey Ovanic, MCK
Jake Hale, S&T
Will Cottle, UMSL
Wojciech Chalat, QU
Collin Ho, RU
Reid Latall, TSU
Jack Rosebaugh, WJC
Congratulations Panthers!!!