GLVC Recognizes Overall James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Honorees
INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference recognized Monday 32 student-athletes, one male and one female per school, as James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, while 16 teams were formally recognized after learning of their honor during their respective All-Conference process this past season.
Each institution – through the head coach – names one award honoree at the end of their respective sports season who distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. The student-athlete must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. With their sport recognition, the honorees became eligible for the overall James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award, where each institution selects one male and one female student-athlete from its season-long list of honorees to be named as James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Individual Award winners.
Furthermore, during the initial nomination process, each institution’s coach ranks the top-three teams within the sport that best displayed good sportsmanship throughout the season. The team with the highest point total is then named that sport’s James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Team Award winner. At the conclusion of the academic year, the institution that accumulated the highest point total across all sports is named the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Overall Award winner. As a result of the cancellation of the spring season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eight spring sports team winners were not determined and therefore no overall team winner was declared for the 2019-20 season.
The GLVC renamed its annual sportsmanship award in 2016 after Spalding, who is referenced as one of the league’s two “Founding Fathers” and for his longtime service at Bellarmine. Spalding was first a basketball student-athlete at Bellarmine, who later returned to serve his alma mater as assistant basketball coach (1957-66), head basketball coach (1966-71), men’s cross country/track coach (1961-75), men’s tennis coach (1961-62), and men’s golf coach (1967-69), before being elevated to director of athletics (1971-94). During his tenure as AD, Spalding expanded Bellarmine’s participation in intercollegiate sports from four to 16 teams, and played a prominent role in both the formation of the GLVC and the sponsorship expansion of women’s athletics within the league. Long revered as one of the league’s pioneers, Spalding was inducted as a charter member of the GLVC Hall of Fame in 2001. He died in 2012 at the age of 79 following a lengthy illness.
2019-20 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD WINNERS
Men’s Cross Country: Missouri S&T | Women’s Cross Country: Illinois Springfield |
Football: William Jewell | Volleyball: Truman State |
Men’s Soccer: William Jewell | Women’s Soccer: Bellarmine |
Men’s Swimming: McKendree | Women’s Swimming: McKendree |
Men’s Basketball: Southwest Baptist | Women’s Basketball: Quincy |
Men’s Indoor Track & Field: Lewis | Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Southwest Baptist |
Wrestling: Bellarmine | Women’s Bowling: Maryville |
Men’s Golf: Maryville | Women’s Golf: Missouri S&T |
Men’s Lacrosse: No award presented | Women’s Lacrosse: No award presented |
Men’s Tennis: No award presented | Women’s Tennis: No award presented |
Baseball: No award presented | Softball: No award presented |
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: No award presented | Women’s Outdoor Track & Field: No award presented |
2019-20 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING INDIVIDUAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD WINNERS
School | Male Winner | Female Winner |
Bellarmine | Chris Gambert, Baseball | Sabrina Fussenegger, Softball |
Drury | Peter Kuster, Wrestling | Erica Dahlgren, Swimming & Diving |
Illinois Springfield | Emmons King, Cross Country | Rachel Cobert, Volleyball |
Indianapolis | Brody Conner, Wrestling | Pilar Echeverria, Golf |
Lewis | Ryan Schefske, Baseball | Carly Graverson, Basketball |
Lindenwood | Austin Stofer, Wrestling | Aly Smith, Lacrosse |
Maryville | Iwan Webster, Soccer | Casey Berberich, Track & Field |
McKendree | Nick Foster, Wrestling | Calypso (Callie) Pohlman, Basketball |
Missouri S&T | Alex Staples, Track & Field | Abby Klein, Softball |
Missouri-St. Louis | Derrick Freeman, Baseball | Emma Thorngren, Golf |
Quincy | Andrew Rund, Football | Dami Adeyinka, Basketball |
Rockhurst | Joe Specht, Baseball | Colleen Pikus, Soccer |
Southern Indiana | Nathan Hall, Track & Field | Morgan Sherwood, Basketball |
Southwest Baptist | Quinn Nelson, Basketball | Meleah Ridenour, Track & Field |
Truman | Quinn Miller, Cross Country | Meghan Gasper, Volleyball |
William Jewell | Ryan Hoffman, Track & Field | Maddie Wingert, Volleyball |