Dozens of Drury student-athletes recognized for academic achievement

Drury Athletics had 39 student-athletes named Brother James Gaffney Distinguished Scholars by the Great Lakes Valley Conference on Wednesday.

Named after Brother James Gaffney FSC, the former president of Lewis University for more than 27 years and two-term chair of the GLVC Council of Presidents, the award is presented annually to student-athletes competing in GLVC-sponsored sports who achieve a 4.0 grade point average during the academic year.

For the fifth year in a row, Drury has had at least 30 student-athletes bestowed with the honor. Fifteen Drury student-athletes won the Gaffney award for the second consecutive year. Jacob Schmidt (men's soccer), Owian Ulven (wrestling), Alexis Workman (women's cross country and track & field), and Abby Howard (women's golf) all posted a perfect grade point average for the third straight year.

44 Panthers named Council of Presidents honorees

Drury had 44 student-athletes earn a Council of Presidents' Academic Excellence Award from the Great Lakes Valley Conference for their work in the classroom during their collegiate career.

The GLVC Council of Presidents Academic Excellence Award recipients exemplify the outstanding student-athletes in the conference. Each honoree has exhausted their eligibility in the intercollegiate sport and maintained at least a 3.5 grade point average throughout their academic career.

In addition, to be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must have competed in the GLVC for a minimum of two years and completed 96 credit hours.

Seventeen different Drury sports competing in the GLVC had student-athletes on the list. Drury's baseball team had the most student-athletes on the list with six, while men's swimming & diving and women's swimming & diving had five each from their program earn the COP award.

Drury Athletics has featured 336 Council of Presidents Academic Excellence Award winners in the last 10 years.

Drury swim teams honored with academic awards

Both Drury swimming & diving teams were named Spring Scholar All-American teams by the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America. To qualify for the prestigious recognition, teams had to earn a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 during the Spring 2024 semester.

The Drury men's swim team posted a 3.40 GPA with 41 student-athletes on the squad. The Panthers finished the season as the NCAA-II Runner-Up. The DU women's squad posted a 3.55 grade point average with 24 participants on the team. The Panthers won the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship and finished third at the NCAA-II national meet.

Earlier this week, both swim teams were honored with the GLVC Team Academic Award.

Head coach Brian Reynolds will enter his 42nd season leading the Drury men's team and his 37th year guiding the women's program in 2024-25.