EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Drury University men's squad and University of Indianapolis women's team stayed atop the team standings after the third of five days of the 2023 GLVC Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday at the Deaconess Aquatic Center in Evansville, Indiana.
The Panthers (836) dominated the day on the men's side, moving from a 34-point lead after Day 2 to a 144.5-point edge at the end of Day 3. The Greyhounds maintained their first-place position, although Drury narrowed the gap from 109 points to 83 on the women's side.
Indianapolis (691.5) put up 332 points today to move into second place on the men's side, sneaking past McKendree (682) by 9.5 points – now in third place after adding 291 points to its total. Staying in fourth was Missouri S&T with 585.5 points, while University of Missouri-St. Louis (412.5) remained in fifth and Lewis University (401.5) held its spot in sixth. William Jewell College (263) remained in the No. 7 spot, while Truman State University (212) moved up one place to eighth. Quincy University (211) and Maryville University (118) rounded out the field at No. 9 and No. 10.
UIndy's two-day total is 952 points on the women's side after scoring 339 today, while second-place Drury (879) extended its lead by a whopping 219 points over third-place McKendree (628). Lewis (429) remained at No. 4, while Truman State (390) and Missouri-St. Louis (374) swapped spots in fifth and sixth, respectively. William Jewell (280), Maryville (179), and Quincy (95) round out the nine-team standings.
There were nine GLVC champions crowned Thursday, with five of those winners setting new league standards.
The medal ceremonies began with an afternoon of diving that saw UIndy senior Cade Hammond set the first league record of the day with 614.25 points on the men's 3-Meter board, breaking the previous record by 35.15. Teammate Jason Lenzo claimed bronze, while Drury's Cole Earl brought home silver, as all three divers earned NCAA A-cuts.
The evening swimming finals started with the women's 100 Butterfly that saw UIndy teammates Mika Heideyer and Johanna Buys place in the top-two spots, with Drury's Mellie Wijk taking third. All three women achieved D-II B-cuts. McKendree senior Gregg Lichinsky continued in the 100 Fly, besting his own record of 46.62 seconds with a time of 46.00. NCAA A-cuts were earned by each of the top-three swimmers, as Greyhounds senior Jeron Thompson and Bearcats sophomore Jack Lustig claimed silver and bronze, respectively.
In the 400 Individual Medley, Drury's Claire Conover touched first at 4:18:23, before UIndy sophomore Cedric Buessing won gold at 3:46.16 in the men's 400 IM, breaking the Conference record by over one second and securing an A-cut. UIndy senior Kaitlyn McCoy and Truman State freshman Adelaide Reaser rounded out the top three for the women, while S&T freshman Connor Bichsel and Quincy's Wyatt Walsh finished second and third, respectively, on the men's side. B-cuts were earned by all three women along with Bichsel and Walsh.
Next came the 200 Freestyle, which saw Heideyer secure her second gold medal of the evening and set a new Conference mark (1:48.42). Drury's Josie Bushell edged out teammate Ellie Walker by four one-thousandths of second to earn silver, while Walker settled for bronze. McKendree's Alireza Yavari placed first (1:36.19) on the men's side and was joined by teammate Arthur Souza on the podium, who finished in third. Panthers' Vladislav Terziev split the two to claim silver. All six 200 Free medalists earned NCAA B-cut marks.
Wrapping things up for the night was the 400 Medley Relay where Drury swept both races, with the men's team breaking the Conference record by just .02 seconds (3:09.61). Both UIndy squads settled for second place, while the McKendree women and S&T men rounded out the respective podiums. The women's teams for the Panthers and Greyhounds and all three men's teams reached NCAA Provisional standards.
All first- and second-place finishers are awarded first- and second-team All-GLVC honors, respectively.
Day 4 of the GLVC Championships begins Friday with preliminaries of the 500 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke, 100 Breaststroke, and 200 Butterfly, beginning at 10 AM CT. The women's 3-meter Diving prelims are set to begin at 12:30 PM CT with finals taking place shortly after the conclusion of prelims.
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