EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Indianapolis won the program’s second Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship at the Deaconess Aquatic Center on Saturday night. The Greyhounds reached the mountain top for the first time since 2023 after finishing as the runner-up the last two seasons.
UIndy scored 1,882 points to claim the title, besting the defending champs – Drury (1,850) – by just 32 points. Missouri-St. Louis (918) finished in third place, while Lewis (843.5) and McKendree (813.5) rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively. Rockhurst (669) and William Jewell (634) placed sixth and seventh, respectively, while Quincy (509), Truman State (468), and Southwest Baptist (276) completed the 10-team field.
Despite none today, two women’s records were broken over the course of the five-day event.
- 1650 Freestyle
- UMSL’s Justice Beard won with a time of 16:31.13.
- Rockhurst’s Paige Sheridan (17:26.23) and Anna Vicent Serrano (17:39.25) respectively landed in second and third place.
- 100 Freestyle
- UIndy’s Kirabo Namutebi took gold with a time of 49.94.
- The Drury duo of Ashlyn Moore (50.12) and Belen Morales (50.64) rounded out the podium.
- 200 Backstroke
- UIndy’s Valentina Masella touch the wall first at the 1:58.06 mark.
- Drury’s Maria Munoz (1:59.43) and Lewis’ Amelia Marsicek (2:00.68) placed second and third.
- 200 Breaststroke
- UIndy’s Celina Schmidt snagged the top spot with a time of 2:11.23.
- Drury’s Gwen Bergum (2:12.44) and McKendree’s Beatriz Souza (2:16.47) took silver and bronze.
- 400 Freestyle Relay
- The Drury quartet of Morales, Nikol Maniko, Whitney Stortz, and Moore narrowly missed the GLVC record en route to winning gold (3:20.93).
- UIndy (3:23.25) finished second, while McKendree (3:25.56) rounded out the top three.
At the conclusion of the meet, UMSL’s Beard was named the GLVC Swimmer of the Year, while her coach Tony Hernandez earned GLVC Coach of the Year honors from his peers. UIndy’s Megan Sunderman claimed the GLVC Diver of the Year award after winning both diving events this week, and her teammate Masella secured GLVC Freshman of the Year recognition. 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 Rockhurst 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: Justice Beard, Jr., UMSL
Diver of the Year: Megan Sunderman, Jr., UINDY
Freshman of the Year: Valentina Masella, UINDY
Coach of the Year: Tony Hernandez, UMSL
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
Rockhurst
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP INDIVIDUAL AWARD HONOREES
Alyssa Freimanis, DU
Sydney Alamein, UINDY
Amelia Marsicek, LEWIS
Kianna Moss, MCK
Stella Garrison, UMSL
Lilli Dempewolf, QU
Bella Teaford, RU
Kelsie Nelson, SBU
Luca Bessall, TSU
Maddie Atwood, WJC