INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced Wednesday that Bellarmine University has been named the recipient of the GLVC James R. Spalding Overall Sportsmanship Award for the 2017-18 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 three ties – were formally 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 Award. Each institution then selected 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 will be named the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Overall Award winner.
This accolade is Bellarmine’s third GLVC Sportsmanship Award, as it is the only league member to have won multiple times. Under the guidance of Director of Athletics Scott Wiegandt, the Knights accumulated the most points during the 2017-18 season, featuring team sportsmanship wins in women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s indoor track and field.
Also earning four program wins was the University of Indianapolis (men’s cross country, men’s golf, men’s indoor track and field, women’s outdoor track and field) and William Jewell College (volleyball, men’s and women’s swimming, women’s tennis). Following with three top team honors was Truman State University (football, men’s basketball, baseball) and Maryville University (women’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf), while Quincy University was chosen for men’s tennis and softball. The remaining honorees can be found below.
Among the notables for the sport winners, the Jewell men’s swimming team tied a league-high streak with its fifth laurel in a row, matching the University of Missouri-St. Louis women’s golf team that won from 2009-10 to 2013-14. Also collecting a streak of its own was Truman baseball with its fourth-straight and football’s third in a row. Quincy men’s tennis also notched its third-straight. Truman men’s basketball got its first nod, while UIndy men’s cross country were first-time winners, as were both Bellarmine soccer teams. In addition, the women’s golf team from Maryville, William Jewell’s women’s tennis team, and the women’s cross country team from UIndy were each recognized for the first time. In the sport’s inaugural year of league sponsorship, Montevallo was named the men’s lacrosse honoree.
Bellarmine joins eight others schools as award winners in the 10-year period the honor has been presented. Former league member Northern Kentucky University claimed the inaugural award in 2007-08, University of Wisconsin-Parkside earned it in 2008-09, Bellarmine claimed back-to-back titles in 2009-10 and 2010-11, 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, William Jewell was distinguished in 2014-15, Maryville picked up the accolade in 2015-16, and Truman garnered its first title in 2016-17.
This is the first win for Bellarmine since 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.
2017-18 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD WINNERS
| Men’s Cross Country: Indianapolis |
Women’s Cross Country: Bellarmine |
| Football: Truman |
Volleyball: William Jewell |
| Men’s Soccer: Bellarmine |
Women’s Soccer: Bellarmine |
| Men’s Swimming: William Jewell & McKendree |
Women’s Swimming: William Jewell |
| Men’s Basketball: Truman |
Women’s Basketball: Maryville |
| Men’s Indoor Track & Field: Indianapolis |
Women’s Indoor Track & Field: Bellarmine |
| Wrestling: Drury |
Men’s Lacrosse: Montevallo |
| Men’s Golf: Indianapolis & Maryville |
Women’s Golf: Maryville |
| Men’s Tennis: Quincy |
Women’s Tennis: William Jewell |
| Baseball: Truman |
Softball: Quincy |
| Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: Missouri S&T |
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field: Indianapolis & Lewis |
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2017-18 GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING INDIVIDUAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD WINNERS
| School |
Male Winner |
Female Winner |
| Bellarmine |
Drew Greenwood, Baseball |
Karly Gawarecki, Track & Field |
| Drury |
Matt Wagoner, Soccer |
Heather Harman, Basketball |
| Illinois Springfield |
Sam Geraci, Baseball |
Jane Carter, Tennis |
| Indianapolis |
Brody Conner, Wrestling |
Paxton DeHaven, Golf |
| Lewis |
Zoe Mead, Cross Country |
Michael Leet, Track & Field |
| Maryville |
Alex Locke, Golf |
Sheridon Sprague, Softball |
| McKendree |
Ben Muller, Tennis |
Adrian Brown, Golf |
| Missouri S&T |
Joe Bindner, Cross Country/Track & Field |
Janie Arand, Basketball |
| Missouri-St. Louis |
Derrick Freeman, Baseball |
Ares Boira, Golf |
| Quincy |
Brynn Martinez, Baseball |
Anika Webster, Basketball |
| Rockhurst |
Chris Beaubien, Golf |
Anne Hellwege, Volleyball |
| Southern Indiana |
Devin Williams, Baseball |
Randa Harshbarger, Basketball |
| Truman |
Jaden Barr, Football |
Brooke Kelley, Golf |
| UW-Parkside |
Espen Fjaerestad, Basketball |
Danielle Crockett, Softball |
| William Jewell |
Robbie Colburn, Baseball |
Grace Miller, Volleyball |