2009-10 PSAC Sportsmanship Award Winners - Kyle King of Mercyhurst (left) and Neely Spence of Shippensburg (right).
Lock Haven, Pa. - Mercyhurst’s Kyle King (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) and Shippensburg’s Neely Spence (Shippensburg, Pa./Shippensburg) have been named the winners of the 2009-10 PSAC Sportsmanship Award. In its second year of existence, the PSAC Sportsmanship Award is given annually to one male and one female student-athlete who best exemplify the spirit of sportsmanship and who has demonstrated the values of respect and integrity through a specific action ideally directed toward an opponent.
A nominee must also have represented his/her institution in a positive way during competition and must have demonstrated good citizenship outside of competition by fostering a good public image. The winners of the PSAC Sportsmanship Award are submitted as nominees for the NCAA Division II Sportsmanship Award. The PSAC Sportsmanship Award was implemented by the PSAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at the beginning of the 2008-09 academic year.
King, a senior men’s tennis player at Mercyhurst, displays sportsmanship, leadership and values at every match, as any of his opponents will testify to his honesty and sportsmanship. He routinely applauds opponents’ good shots and even apologizes if he gets a lucky bounce. One act that stands out is during a team match in which the teams were tied 4-4 and King was playing in what would ultimately be the deciding match. On the third match point of the set, King hit a shot that hit the top of the net and fell over, bouncing twice before his opponent could reach it, ending the match and giving Mercyhurst the 5-4 team win. As King shook hands with his opponent after the match , he apologized and said that the shot was complete luck and was sorry the match had to end like that while telling him he had played one of the best matches of his college career. Off the tennis court, King has a grade point average of 4.0 and was just this week named to the ESPN The Magazine Men’s At-Large Academic All-America® team as a third team selection after being named first team Academic All-District.
Spence, a sophomore women’s track & field and cross country athlete at Shippensburg, is already well-known around the PSAC for her exploits on the track during the first two years of her college career but she made an even better name for herself with a very unselfish gesture at the PSAC Indoor Track & Field Championships this past February. Spence, who has dominated PSAC cross country and distance events on the track since her arrival on the scene in the fall of 2008, was biding her time and conserving energy for later races while running the 5,000 meters, having already posted an NCAA automatic qualifying time in the event. She was also aware that Mansfield runner Brenae Edwards was trying to post an automatic qualifying mark in the event as well. Edwards was leading the race for nearly two miles by herself when Spence caught her from behind and began to make her move to win the race. But, with five laps to go, Spence did not leave Edwards behind as she slowed slightly after passing Edwards and began to encourage her, telling her to keep up and stay with her. For the next four laps, Spence kept Edwards’ pace while encouraging her to stay close. With just one lap to go, Spence used her superior finishing kicks to win the race but her encouragement helped Edwards pick up her pace over the last four laps, enabling Edwards to finish second in the race with the NCAA qualifying time. When the duo crossed the finish line just two seconds apart, Spence seemed more elated that Edwards had run a personal best and an NCAA qualifying time rather than she had won the race. In her act of selflessness, Spence sacrificed a PSAC championship record to help Edwards in her quest to qualify for national. Spence, also a standout in the classroom as evidenced by her selection as PSAC Winter Top 10 selection, has become good friends with Edwards in the time since and the two finished first and third, respectively, at the NCAA Championships in the 5,000 meters.
The NCAA Sportsmanship Award winners will be announced in August. Last year, Clarion’s Jamie Maloney, the female recipient of the PSAC Sportsmanship Award, was the NCAA national Sportsmanship Award winner.
Other nominees for the 2009-10 PSAC Sportsmanship Awards are listed below.
Karina Palmberg, California (Women’s Golf)
East Stroudsburg Women’s Soccer Team
Sam Goettman, IUP (Softball)
Melissa Kang, West Chester (Women’s Swimming)