INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced Friday that Southwest Baptist University has been named the recipient of the GLVC James R. Spalding Overall Sportsmanship Award for the 2024-25 season. In addition, 30 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 fourth for Southwest Baptist since it joined the league in 2019. Under the guidance of Director of Athletics Clark Sheehy, the Bearcats accumulated the most points during the 2024-25 season, featuring team sportsmanship wins in both men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field.
Behind SBU’s six team sportsmanship selections was Drury University with three for men’s tennis, wrestling, and softball, University of Missouri-St. Louis scored three wins in men’s golf, softball, and women’s swimming and diving, Truman State University with three wins in women’s soccer, women’s tennis, and volleyball, and William Jewell College with three wins in men’s basketball, football, and women’s basketball. University of Indianapolis and Missouri S&T had two teams each with selections that included men’s lacrosse and men’s golf for Indianapolis and men’s soccer and men’s swimming for Missouri S&T. Lincoln University (baseball), Oklahoma Christian (women’s bowling), and Quincy University (men’s lacrosse) earned the other honors.
Among the notables for the sport winners, since the 2015-16 season, Truman women’s soccer team picked up its league-best fifth selection this year, including the four in a row. Other multiple recipients included four-straight for Jewell men’s and women’s basketball. Lincoln picked up its first honor ever in the Blue Tigers’ inaugural year as league members.
SBU joins 11 other schools as award winners in the 16-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 for 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 SBU won back to back in 2020-21 and 2021-22 as well as last year before Missouri S&T snagged its first honor in 2022-23. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that suspended spring sports competition in 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.
A complete list of individual and team winners follows below.
2024-25 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS
| School |
Male Winner |
Female Winner |
| Drury |
Lukas Rieber, Tennis |
Claire Conover, Swimming & Diving |
| Illinois Springfield |
Isaiah Esker, Basketball |
Brooke Biffar, Soccer |
| Indianapolis |
Kivonte Houston, Football |
Lauren Peal, Volleyball |
| Lewis |
Ian Nguyen, Baseball |
Jada Harvey, Soccer |
| Lincoln |
Clayton Winkler, Football |
Shantae George, Track & Field |
| Maryville |
Nathan Beaton, Baseball |
Nika Vemdal, Soccer |
| McKendree |
Justin King, Basketball |
Jenna Roth, Softball |
| Missouri S&T |
Sam Patterson, Cross Country |
Sydney Anderson, Softball |
| Missouri-St. Louis |
Austin Reis, Soccer |
Emily Bloomfield, Soccer |
| Quincy |
Inigo Villacampa, Tennis |
Reegan Hess, Soccer |
| Rockhurst |
Nico Felici, Basketball |
Patti Ehrnman, Soccer |
| Southwest Baptist |
Brayden Housh, Track & Field |
Audrey Rahlmann, Softball |
| Truman |
Peyton Carr, Football |
Nina Fenasci, Softball |
| Upper Iowa |
Baxter Bohr, Football |
Sara Reid, Softball |
| William Jewell |
Ben Click, Baseball |
Addie Bell, Softball |
2024-25 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD WINNERS
| Baseball: Lincoln |
Women’s Basketball: William Jewell |
| Men’s Basketball: William Jewell |
Women’s Bowling: Oklahoma Christian |
| Men’s Cross Country: Southwest Baptist |
Women’s Cross Country: Southwest Baptist |
| Football: William Jewell |
Women’s Golf: Indianapolis |
| Men’s Golf: Missouri-St. Louis |
Women’s Lacrosse: Quincy |
| Men’s Lacrosse: Indianapolis |
Women’s Soccer: Truman State |
| Men’s Soccer: Missouri S&T |
Softball: Drury |
| Men’s Swimming & Diving: Missouri S&T |
Women’s Swimming & Diving: Missouri-St. Louis |
| Men’s Tennis: Drury |
Women’s Tennis: Truman State |
| Men’s Indoor Track & Field: Southwest Baptist |
Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Southwest Baptist |
| Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: Southwest Baptist |
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field: Southwest Baptist |
| Wrestling: Drury |
Volleyball: Truman State |