14 Drury University athletics teams win Great Lakes Valley Conference Academic Award

Fourteen of Drury University's 18 teams that compete in the Great Lakes Valley Conference earned a Team Academic All-GLVC Award from the league Monday. Teams that maintained a 3.30 grade point average for the 2023-24 academic year were honored with the league award.

The Drury women's tennis team had the highest GPA among the department's GLVC teams, as the squad produced a 3.76 grade point average for 2023-24. The Drury men's soccer team, with a 3.55 team GPA, had the highest mark for a DU men's team.

This year marked the second year in a row that Drury has had 14 Team Academic Award winners and 13 of those squads were also honored last year. Men's swimming & diving cracked this year's award winners with a 3.40 team grade point average.

A total of 182 teams from the GLVC's 14 institutions and three affiliate members were named Team Academic All-GLVC Award winners for 2023-24. The news from the GLVC kicks off a week during which the conference will announce academic awards to student-athletes and league members.  

Drury's Team Academic All-GLVC Award winners included Women's Tennis (3.76), Women's Soccer (3.60), Women's Cross Country (3.59), Men's Soccer (3.55), Women's Swimming & Diving (3.55), Softball (3.53), Men's Tennis (3.53), Women's Track & Field (3.52), Baseball (3.51), Men's Cross Country (3.51), Men's Track & Field (3.41), Men's Swimming & Diving (3.40), Women's Basketball (3.35), Women's Golf (3.33).

DU Athletics sets department record with 278 Academic All-GLVC honorees 

Drury Athletics set a department record as 278 student-athletes were named Academic All-Great Lakes Conference for their work in the classroom in 2023-24. The Academic All-GLVC honor is bestowed upon student-athletes who meet a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 during the 2023-24 academic year.

Drury's total of 278 is 25 more than last year's total and topped the department's previous record of 275, set in 2022. There were 50 Drury student-athletes who became Academic All-GLVC honorees for all four years of their collegiate career.   

Drury's baseball team had the most Academic All-GLVC award winners with 36 and the Panthers' women's soccer had the most honorees for a women's program with 27. Drury's women's tennis team had the highest percentage of student-athletes honored with eight of their nine members of the squad receiving the league's academic honors. 

Three from Drury’s golf programs named Academic All-District

Drury had one men's golfer and two from their women's golf team named to the Academic All-District At-Large team by the College Sports Communicators. Clayton Kaiser (senior from Monett) from the Drury men's golf team was named to the Academic All-District team, while Abby Howard (Liberty) and Isabella Thrall (Wentzville) from the DU women's golf team were selected to the squad.

Those selected for the Academic All-District team were chosen for their accomplishments in their sport in addition to their work in the classroom. Recipients needed to have a minimum of a 3.50 cumulative grand point average.