For the second time in three years, the Truman Athletics Department captured the GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award.

The award is based on individual sport coach rankings of their top three teams that displayed the best sportsmanship throughout the seasons. The Bulldog football team, softball team and men’s outdoor track and field team were respective team sportsmanship winners.

Truman joins Bellarmine (Ky.) as only the second league school to win the award multiple times in the 12 years of the conference-wide award.

In addition, Taurin Hughes (men’s basketball) and Savvy Hughes (volleyball) were the Bulldog individual sportsmanship winners out of the 18 Truman student-athletes nominated by their respective sport for the honor.

For the Truman softball program, it may not get better than Erin Brown and Christa Reisinger.

Brown, who resigned following the season, leaves as the program’s all-time winningest coach, and it isn’t even close. In her 13 seasons at the helm of the Bulldogs, the Truman alum racked up 348 wins (348-302), nearly 200 more than the next-closest mark in the record book. Brown led the Purple and White to five NCAA tournaments, which is good for nearly a third of the school’s 17 all-time appearances.

During Brown’s 13 years in Kirksville as the head coach, her last four were quite a bit easier because of Reisinger. She graduates and steps away from the program as arguably its most decorated player ever. In just a small portion of her long list of accomplishments, Reisinger is a three-time GLVC Player of the Year, two-time Academic All-American, two-time Athletic All-American, eight-time GLVC Player of the Week and school record holder for six major categories.

On May 2-4, Stokes Stadium/Kenneth Gardner Track served as hosts for the 2019 Great Lakes Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Twelve teams and more than 450 student-athletes competed for conference gold in the first conference meet on campus since 2003.

The Bulldogs produced two GLVC champions during the meet, with senior Elle Renault repeating as javelin champion and the men’s 4×400 meter relay team winning their first conference relay championship since 1979. Members of the relay team were Eddie Barrett, Mitch Henderson, Kyle Kubernat and Elijah Farrales.

Both the men’s and women’s teams finished in the top tier of the conference, with the women scoring 70.5 points and finishing fifth and the men 78.5 points and placing fourth. The University of Indianapolis won the men’s team title with 222 points while Lewis University won their fourth-straight GLVC team title in one of the closest finishes ever over UINDY 180-179.5.

In total, 13 Stokes Stadium records were broken during the three-day championships.

To assist with running the meet, Truman student-athletes from all other sports volunteered during the championships, and several volunteers from both the Kirksville and Truman communities helped make it one of the most successful conference championship events in recent history.

Baseball

Senior Mason King capped off his Truman baseball career by capturing a school record and ranking in the top 10 in other offensive categories. King was walked a record 105 times in 174 career games and ranked third in stolen bases with 47 and ninth in career at bats with 599. Freshman Holden Missey was the team’s top hitter at .326, and junior Adam Stolley had the best offensive production with six home runs and 23 RBIs.

Women’s Basketball

Junior Sloane Totta was one of four Bulldogs named to the all-conference team and the only first-team honoree. Totta led the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game, steals with 33 and was second in assists with 88. She was one of three to start and play in all 31 games.

Men’s Basketball

In year No. 1 under new head coach Jeff Horner, Truman was led by junior shooting guard Brodric Thomas. He was named first-team All-GLVC (unanimous) and a member of the all-defensive team, both of which he accomplished as a sophomore as well. The Bolingbrook, Ill., native led the Bulldogs in points per game (18.0), rebounds per game (6.5), steals per game (1.3) and blocks per game (1.2). With just one season left to play, the versatile Thomas needs just 166 points to become a member of the 1,000-point club.

Women’s Golf

For her senior season as a member of the women’s golf program, Brooke Kelley was the team’s most productive player. Kelley led the team in scoring average by over a stroke at 84.9 while tying for the team lead in rounds played with 18. This season, the New Bloomfield, Mo., native represented the team’s lowest score in an event for six of its nine tournaments.

Softball

With the end of the 2019 season came an end to arguably the most decorated career in the history of Truman softball. Senior outfielder Christa Reisinger leaves the program as its all-time leader in stolen bases, runs scored, batting average, hits, total bases and triples. Not only that, but the southpaw speedster is also second in home runs, second in at-bats, fifth in RBI and seventh in doubles. The two-time All-American – academically and athletically, soon to be three times – is the only player in GLVC history to win its Player of the Year honor three times. This season, she also became the league’s first-ever player to win Player of the Week four times in a single campaign.

Swimming

This season, Truman swimming was able to send two individuals to the NCAA swimming and diving championships in Indianapolis, Ind. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs were represented by senior Sam Heveroh. He competed in four different events including the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free and 100 breast. He leaves Truman with three school records to his name. On the women’s side, sophomore Natalie Galluzzo went for the second-straight year and, just like last season, became an All-American in the 100 breast.

Track & Field

Truman track and field had several notable performances this spring. Sophomore Bobby Campbell broke the school record in the weight throw. He Went 55-7 at the Northwest Bearcat Open, Feb. 9, then threw 55-9.25 the following week at the Mizzou Collegiate Challenge. At the GLVC indoor championships, senior Elijah Farrales was the 400-meter champion and junior Brandon Hackamack won the triple jump. Junior Hannah Sells set personal bests and got an NCAA provisional in the pole vault, senior Elle Renault was the champion for the second-straight year at the GLVC outdoor championships with sophomore Ally Ebert second. Senior Hannah Oberdiek was the silver medalist in the long jump at both the indoor and outdoor championships.

Tennis

Senior Maura Dunn led the team in singles wins during the 2018-19 season and posted a pair of wins out of five matches in conference play. Nick Thiele and Griffin Turnage played in the most singles matches with 13. Turnage and Dunn were voted the Tennis Athletes of the Year for the annual Dogspy awards, while Thiele and Finessa Rassel were the two representatives on the GLVC Sportsmanship award.

Wrestling

Zach Williard posted a 20-17 record as a collegiate freshman for the Bulldogs. Williard had nine wins via pinfall and five major decisions. He was named the GLVC Wrestler of the Week following a championship performance at the Central Baptist (Ark.) Invite, Jan. 13. Sam Reeves earned All-GLVC honors and was an overtime loss away from returning to the NCAA Division II national tournament. Reeves was 17-10 with two wins via pinfall.