Sierra Cenek of UIS women's Soccer and Jason Bergstrom of UIS men's basketball have been recognized as the Illinois Springfield recipients of the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award.
Each GLVC institution – through the head coach – named one award honoree in each sport sponsored. These individual sport honorees became candidates for the individual 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.
Sierra Cenek, a member of the UIS women's soccer team, competed for UIS for five seasons from 2019-2023. She is the program's all-time leader in games played and games started, as well as the program's first-ever First Team All-Region selection. She earned Second Team All-GLVC honors in the fall. She has also been recognized as an Academic All-GLVC athlete and Brother James Gaffney Distinguished Scholar multiple times in her years as a Prairie Star. Sierra has graduated from UIS with a bachelor's degree in exercise science.
Jason Bergstrom is a four-year member of the UIS men's basketball team who has been named to the GLVC Academic All-Conference team in each of his first three years. The forward from Mount Prospect, Ill. appeared in 51 games in his career and graduated from UIS with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
Honorees from UIS in 2023-24
| Men's Cross Country: | Zach Panek |
| Men's Soccer: | Lucas Harris |
| Men's Basketball: | Jason Bergstrom |
| Men's Indoor T&F: | Joey Karlesky |
| Men's Tennis: | Ivan Esguerra |
| Men's Golf: | Daniel Edwards |
| Baseball: | Ivan Dahlberg |
| Men's Outdoor T&F: | Daniel Giacomini |
| Women's Cross Country: | Kali Gaden |
| Women's Soccer: | Sierra Cenek |
| Volleyball: | Marta Perez-Tapia |
| Women's Basketball: | Ella Mann |
| Women's Indoor T&F: | Marissa Roggensack |
| Women's Tennis: | Carmen Llopis Fabra |
| Women's Golf: | Elaine Grant |
| Softball: | Sophie Margelot |
| Women's Outdoor T&F: | Marissa Roggensack |
More About the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award
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 can be found on glvcsports.com.