ELSAH, Ill. – Lewis University claimed its fourth Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Women's Cross Country Championship, held Saturday at the Principia College Cross Country Course in Elsah, Illinois.
The Flyers are back on top for the first time since 1997 when they repeated as champs, which followed their first league title in 1990. Thanks to seven of its runners finishing in the top 20, 19th-ranked Lewis scored 44 points to best runner-up Southwest Baptist University by 18 points.
SBU's 62 points just edged out University of Indianapolis and its 64 points in third place. Drury University followed in fourth with 79 points, and Truman State University was a distant fifth with 105 points, which was a much-improved effort from its ninth-place finish in 2021.
Missouri S&T (162 points) finished sixth ahead of University of Illinois Springfield (188) in seventh and Rockhurst University (241) in eighth. Maryville University (272) and University of Missouri-St. Louis (294) were respectively ninth and 10th, while William Jewell College (354) followed in 11th and McKendree University (363) claimed 12th. Quincy University did not compete in the event.
Individually, Drury sophomore Bradley Weimer crossed the line first in 22 minutes, 00.92 seconds to become just the second Panther to be crowned a GLVC champion and first since Claire McCune won back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.
UIndy senior Melissa Spencer earned runner-up distinction in 22 minutes, 13.97 seconds, which was a measurable upgrade from her 24th-place result last year. Lewis junior Anna Kozak finished third, clocking a time of 22:26.05, ahead of fourth-place Southwest Baptist junior Tessa Valdivia in 22 minutes, 27.32 seconds and fifth-place Lewis junior Caroline Pacer in 22 minutes, 34.65 seconds.
SBU juniors Alexis Barber (22:42.22) and Brocklyn Barber (21:58.97), as well as Drury junior Zoe Van Dijk (22:49.74) finished sixth through eighth, respectively, while ninth and 10th went to Lewis senior Rachael Morrison (22:54.73) and UIndy sophomore Hannah Wells (23:01.38). UIndy senior Mariah Davis (22:08.67) and Drury senior Jayme-Sue Vermaas (23:08.28) went 11-12, while 13th through 15th were taken, respectively, by Lewis sophomore Abbey Kozak (23:12.46), Lewis senior Sydney Wolf (23:12.83), and Lewis sophomore Naylah Allen (23:15.00). Rounding out the top 20 with All-Conference distinction were the following runners: Lewis sophomore Jade Miller (23:17.28), Truman sophomore Addie Mathis (23:20.67), UIndy sophomore Brianna Lawson (23:22.80), as well as Truman freshmen Breanna Mathes (23:24.25) and Kate Yates (23:26.84).
At the conclusion of the GLVC Championship, Weimer was named GLVC Runner of the Year, while Mathes was named GLVC Freshman of the Year as the league's top newcomer. Lewis head coach James Kearney was honored by his peers as GLVC Coach of the Year for his first accolade on the women's side, which is the sixth time a Lewis mentor has been selected.
After the race, 13 student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior were also named as their sport's GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honoree. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees 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.
For the third time in league history, the GLVC Championship was carried live on the GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN). The broadcast can be found in the "On Demand" section on all GLVCSN platforms, including GLVCSN.com, GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile apps, as well as GLVCSN OTT platforms on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV.
2022 GLVC POSTSEASON AWARDS
GLVC CHAMPION/RUNNER OF THE YEAR: Bradley Weimer, Drury
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Breanna Mathes, Truman State
COACH OF THE YEAR: James Kearney, Lewis
ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES (in order of top-20 finish)
Bradley Weimer, DU
Melissa Spencer, UINDY
Anna Kozak, LEWIS
Tessa Valdivia, SBU
Caroline Pacer, LEWIS
Alexis Barber, SBU
Brocklyn Barber, SBU
Zoe Van Dijk, DU
Rachael Morrison, LEWIS
Hannah Wells, UINDY
Mariah Davis, UINDY
Jayme-Sue Vermaas, DU
Abbey Kozak, LEWIS
Sydney Wolf, LEWIS
Naylah Allen, LEWIS
Jade Miller, LEWIS
Addie Mathis, TSU
Brianna Lawson, UINDY
Breanna Mathes, TSU
Kate Yates, TSU
GLVC WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP HONOREES
Mia Harris, DU
Jordan Serrahn, UIS
Hanna Stamm, UINDY
Grace Girard, LEWIS
Abby Stone, MU
Lacey Laxton, MCK
Hope Strausbaugh, S&T
Ricardo Menjivar, UMSL
Aliya Callaway, QU
Faith Fritschle, RU
Cora Stimpson, TSU
Anna Bandy, SBU
Zoë Foreman, WJC
GLVC WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD WINNER
Missouri S&T