INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced Wednesday that Missouri S&T has been named the recipient of the GLVC James R. Spalding Overall Sportsmanship Award for the 2022-23 season. In addition, 26 student-athletes, one male and one female per school, have been named James R. Spalding Sportsmanship 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 individual James R. Spalding Sportsmanship 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 first for S&T since it joined the league in 2004. Under the guidance of Director of Athletics Melissa Ringhausen, the Miners accumulated the most points during the 2022-23 season, featuring team sportsmanship wins in both men’s and women’s cross country, men’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, as well as women’s outdoor track and field.
Behind S&T’s six team sportsmanship selections was Truman State University and William Jewell College with four apiece. The Bulldogs scored wins in baseball, football, women’s soccer, and volleyball, while the Cardinals' four teams picked at the top included men’s and women’s basketball, men’s soccer, and softball. Three other schools had two sports chosen as the best, including Drury University (men’s and women’s tennis), McKendree University (women’s bowling, women’s swimming), and Rockhurst University (men’s and women’s lacrosse). University of Illinois Springfield (women’s golf), Maryville University (men’s golf), Quincy University (women’s lacrosse), and associate member Ouachita Baptist University (wrestling) each earned a single award.
Among the notables for the sport winners, since the 2015-16 season, Truman State scored its league-best sixth accolade in both football and baseball. Maryville’s fourth honor in men’s golf is a league best, as is McKendree’s selection in women’s swimming. First-time winners were also awarded in women’s cross country, wrestling, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s lacrosse, and women’s outdoor track and field.
S&T joins 10 other schools as award winners in the 14-year period the honor has been presented. Former league members Northern Kentucky University claimed the inaugural award in 2007-08 when the accolade was chosen by the GLVC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), University of Wisconsin-Parkside earned it in 2008-09, Bellarmine University claimed back-to-back titles in 2009-10 and 2010-11 before its league-best third award was won in 2017-18, and University of Southern Indiana won the title for the 2011-12 academic year. Drury 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 the last two have been earned by Southwest Baptist University in 2020-21 and 2021-22. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that suspended spring sports competition in the spring of 2020, no overall school sportsmanship award could be determined.
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.
2022-23 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD WINNERS
| Men’s Cross Country: Missouri S&T |
Women’s Cross Country: Missouri S&T |
| Football: Truman State |
Volleyball: Truman State |
| Men’s Soccer: William Jewell |
Women’s Soccer: Truman State |
| Men’s Swimming & Diving: Missouri S&T |
Women’s Swimming & Diving: McKendree |
| Men’s Indoor Track & Field: Missouri S&T |
Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Missouri S&T |
| Men’s Basketball: William Jewell |
Women’s Basketball: William Jewell |
| Women’s Bowling: McKendree |
Wrestling: Ouachita Baptist |
| Men’s Lacrosse: Rockhurst |
Women’s Lacrosse: Rockhurst & Quincy |
| Men’s Golf: Maryville |
Women’s Golf: Illinois Springfield |
| Men’s Tennis: Drury |
Women’s Tennis: Drury |
| Baseball: Truman State |
Softball: William Jewell |
| Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: Indianapolis |
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field: Missouri S&T |
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2022-23 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS
| School |
Male Winner |
Female Winner |
| Drury |
Andrew Rodriguez, Swimming & Diving |
Ashley Childers, Track & Field |
| Illinois Springfield |
Cort Ross, Cross Country |
Ella Mann, Basketball |
| Indianapolis |
JaQuan Buchanan, Football |
Kaitlyn McCoy, Swimming & Diving |
| Lewis |
Vlado Zrnic, Basketball |
Stephanie Hart, Basketball |
| Maryville |
Austin Fauser, Golf |
Lexi Taylor, Lacrosse |
| McKendree |
Jacob Bachman, Football |
Rebecca Hagerman, Bowling |
| Missouri S&T |
Santiago Cervantes, Soccer |
Lilli Machado, Basketball |
| Missouri-St. Louis |
Nick Hedberg, Golf |
Karli Dean, Volleyball |
| Quincy |
Spencer Walker, Baseball |
Jessica Felix, Soccer |
| Rockhurst |
Malik Stevenson, Baseball |
Calli Wibbenmeyer, Softball |
| Southwest Baptist |
Ayden Stone, Basketball |
Emma Wood, Softball |
| Truman |
Jaxson Mahlstaht, Swimming & Diving |
Sophie Oxandale, Track & Field |
| William Jewell |
Christian Santiago, Cross Country |
Payton Totzke, Softball |