Drury University’s Jaime Villa Zapatero has been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week.  The sophomore runner led the Panthers to victory at the Miner Invitational on Saturday.

Zapatero won the race at the end by outkicking Missouri S&T alum, Joffroi Holcombe. He was able to cover the 6,000-meter course in 18:39. He holds the fastest 6,000-meter time for this season in the GLVC.

The Drury men placed five runners in the top ten out of 89 runners. This marked the second year in a row Drury claimed the Miner Invitational.  The Panthers moved up in the Midwest Regional Rankings this week from seventh to second, due to their great team effort.

Last year, Zapatero was named Freshman of the Year at the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship meet. 

Other top performers in the GLVC included Ben Draper from Bellarmine and Drew Harris from Northern Kentucky.