INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced Thursday that Southwest Baptist University has been named the recipient of the GLVC James R. Spalding Overall Sportsmanship Award for the 2021-22 season. In addition, 30 student-athletes, one male and one female per school, have been named James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Individual Award winners, while 25 teams – one per sport, plus one tie – were previously recognized after learning of their honor during their respective All-Conference process.
Each institution – through the head coach – names one award honoree in each sport sponsored. These individual sport honorees became candidates for the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Individual Award. Each institution then 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.
This accolade is the second for Southwest Baptist in just its third year of GLVC membership. Under the guidance of Director of Athletics Mike Pitts, the Bearcats accumulated the most points during the 2021-22 season, featuring team sportsmanship wins in women’s indoor track and field, as well as both men’s and women’s outdoor track and field.
While SBU picked up the most top-three votes, William Jewell College led the team winners with five, including volleyball, football, wrestling, and both men’s and women’s basketball. Along with SBU, University of Indianapolis (men’s soccer, men's and women's swimming) and Quincy University (women’s bowling, men’s lacrosse, and softball) earned three each. Two teams from Lewis University (men’s and women’s cross country), University of Missouri-St. Louis (men’s and women’s golf), University of Southern Indiana (men’s and women’s tennis), and Truman State University (women’s soccer and baseball) were selected, while one team each from Lindenwood University (men’s indoor track & field), Maryville University (men’s lacrosse), and Rockhurst University (women’s lacrosse) rounded out the list of 25 teams selected.
Among the notables for the sport winners, since the 2015-16 season, Truman State scored its league-best fifth baseball honor and William Jewell notched its league-best fifth volleyball award. The USI women’s tennis team won its GLVC-best third nod in a row and overall, while Quincy earned a league high with its third selection in softball. Additionally, Jewell volleyball, Quincy men’s lacrosse, USI women’s tennis, SBU women’s outdoor track & field, and Truman baseball all repeated as the sport winner.
SBU joins nine other schools as award winners in the 14-year period the honor has been presented and is just the second school to win in back-to-back years, as former league member Bellarmine did it in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Former league member Northern Kentucky University claimed the inaugural award in 2007-08 when the accolade was chosen by the GLVC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), former member University of Wisconsin-Parkside earned it in 2008-09, and University of Southern Indiana won the title for the 2011-12 academic year. Drury University then took home top honors in 2012-13, Lewis University won from 2013-14, and William Jewell was distinguished in 2014-15. Maryville picked up the accolade in 2015-16 when the process and namesake changed, Truman garnered its first title in 2016-17 with another recognition in 2018-19, while former member Bellarmine University garnered its league-best third award in 2017-18. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that suspended last year’s spring sports competition, no overall school sportsmanship award could be determined.
The GLVC renamed its annual sportsmanship award in 2016 after Spalding for his longtime service at Bellarmine and who is referenced as one of the league’s two “Founding Fathers.” Spalding was first a basketball student-athlete at Bellarmine, returning later 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.
2021-22 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD WINNERS
| Men’s Cross Country: Lewis |
Women’s Cross Country: Lewis |
| Football: William Jewell |
Volleyball: William Jewell |
| Men’s Soccer: Indianapolis |
Women’s Soccer: Truman State |
| Men’s Swimming: Indianapolis |
Women’s Swimming: Indianapolis |
| Men’s Indoor Track & Field: Lindenwood |
Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Southwest Baptist |
| Men’s Basketball: William Jewell |
Women’s Basketball: William Jewell |
| Wrestling: William Jewell |
Women’s Bowling: Quincy |
| Men’s Lacrosse: Quincy & Maryville |
Women’s Lacrosse: Rockhurst |
| Men’s Golf: Missouri-St. Louis |
Women’s Golf: Missouri-St. Louis |
| Men’s Tennis: Southern Indiana |
Women’s Tennis: Southern Indiana |
| Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: Southwest Baptist |
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field: Southwest Baptist |
| Baseball: Truman State |
Softball: Quincy |
2021-22 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS
| School |
Male Winner |
Female Winner |
| Drury |
Mitch Stephens, Soccer |
Bec Cross, Swimming & Diving |
| Illinois Springfield |
Jesus Castillo, Basketball |
Libby Price, Track & Field |
| Indianapolis |
Ben Nagel, Track & Field |
Mickey Sasson, Basketball |
| Lewis |
Oskar Lusti, Tennis |
Kasey Kane, Golf |
| Lindenwood |
Nate Trepanier, Wrestling |
Samantha Linderer, Soccer |
| Maryville |
James Stacey, Lacrosse |
Lexi Taylor, Lacrosse |
| McKendree |
Will Postlethwaite, Golf |
Rebecca Hagerman, Bowling |
| Missouri S&T |
Braden Mahurin, Baseball |
Maya Washington, Track & Field |
| Missouri-St. Louis |
Trever Moore, Basketball |
Mimi Bradley, Softball |
| Quincy |
Spencer Walker, Baseball |
Dami Adeyinka, Basketball |
| Rockhurst |
Semen Tsyrenov, Tennis |
Maya Gallagher, Softball |
| Southern Indiana |
Tyler Henry, Basketball |
Courtney Schoolcraft, Softball |
| Southwest Baptist |
Tyler Goatley, Track & Field |
Amanda Berkstresser, Cross Country |
| Truman Sate |
Thomas Cormier, Cross Country |
Holly Olson, Swimming & Diving |
| William Jewell |
Alex Epp, Baseball |
Grace Baucom, Volleyball |