INDIANAPOLIS – For the first time in school history, William Jewell College has been named as the recipient of the GLVC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Overall Sportsmanship Award for the 2014-15 season, it was announced by the league office Monday. 

In addition, eight programs were also honored for displaying good sportsmanship throughout the conference during the spring-sports season. Those honorees included Missouri S&T’s softball and men’s outdoor track and field team, the University of Indianapolis men’s and Drury University women’s golf squad, the University of Southern Indiana men’s tennis program, the University of Illinois Springfield women’s tennis team, the Maryville University women’s outdoor track and field team and Truman State University’s baseball program.

The SAAC Sportsmanship Award is determined by a vote of the GLVC member institutions’ campus SAAC organizations. The committees select their top-three choices in each sport and base their decision on their view of sportsmanship. Each team that received a first-place vote received three points, second place received two points, and the third place received one point. The GLVC sponsors the award in each of the league’s 20 championship sports.

The Cardinals, under the direction of athletics director Dr. Darlene Bailey, accumulated the most points during the 2014-15 season to earn their first-ever GLVC SAAC Overall Sportsmanship Award, thanks in large part to the volleyball and men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs. The Mark Gole–led teams earned the men’s and women’s swimming and diving awards this season, while Carolyn Raynes’ group did the same for volleyball.

Missouri S&T finished in second in the unpublished team results, while Truman State University placed third for the second straight year. Saint Joseph’s College and Lewis University – last year’s winner – rounded out the top five.

S&T joins six others schools – Bellarmine University, Drury, Lewis, former league member Northern Kentucky University, Southern Indiana, and University of Wisconsin-Parkside – as award winners in the eight-year period the honor has been presented. Northern Kentucky claimed the inaugural award in 2007-08, UW-Parkside earned it in 2008-09, Bellarmine claimed back-to-back titles in 2009-10 and 2010-11, Southern Indiana won the title for the 2011-12 academic year, Drury took home top honors in 2012-13 and Lewis is the reigning winner from 2013-14.

Among the notables for the spring sport winners are four programs that have earned the accolade for the very first time, including Drury women’s golf, University of Illinois Springfield women’s tennis, Maryville women’s outdoor track and field as well as Truman baseball. Additionally, two squads have repeat as spring sport winners from S&T: men’s outdoor track and field and the Miners’ softball program. UIndy earned its second accolade in three years for men’s golf, and USI men’s tennis earned its third honor overall, having won the inaugural award in 2007-08 as well as the 2012-13 award.

 
2015 GLVC SPRING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD WINNERS