ST. LOUIS, Mo. ? Indiana State men's cross country/track & field student-athlete Kyle Walsh earned a very prestigious honor on Thursday, when the senior from Kokomo, Ind., was named one of ten recipients of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Good Neighbor Award by MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin.
In an effort to honor model student-athletes, the Missouri Valley Conference has partnered with State Farm Insurance in creating the MVC Good Neighbor Award. In order to be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must be in good academic standing, must demonstrate good citizenship through good sportsmanship and significant community service, and must participate in a sport, during the season of recognition. The Valley will recognize 10 student-athletes three times annually (fall, winter, spring), for a total of 30 honorees.
“I can't think of anybody else more deserving of this honor than Kyle,” said men's cross country/track & field head coach John McNichols. “Kyle is one of the most genuine people I've ever had the pleasure to coach in my 25 years here. He is completely unselfish with his time and does everything he can in his free time to help out in the community and on campus. On top of that, he's an outstanding student that dedicates all of his time and effort into succeeding in the classroom.”
Walsh, a three-time Missouri Valley Conference All-Conference and Scholar-Athlete Team selection, carries a 3.91 cumulative GPA in physical education and has recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA for four consecutive semesters at Indiana State. He has also been a member of the Dean's List at ISU in each of his four years on campus and was recently named the recipient of the 2007-08 Paul Wolf P.E. Scholarship.
In addition to his work on the track and in the classroom, Walsh has given his time to helping out in the community as well. He currently serves as mentor for freshman student-athletes at Indiana State and has also volunteered his time at the Happiness Bag, the Lighthouse Mission, and with the Red Cross and the Boys and Girls Club in Terre Haute. Walsh is also very involved with Children's Ministries at Oakbrook Community Church and has served as a volunteer assistant cross country coach for his alma mater at Western High School in Kokomo.
“This has been a really trying year for Kyle battling an injury that eventually needed surgery to correct,” continued McNichols. “He's spent so much time rehabilitating that injury and for him to still find time to dedicate to his studies and to helping others is tremendous. This honor is really fitting for him and I am proud that he was honored as one of the recipients.”
This spring's other MVC Good Neighbor Award honorees include Eitan Barbalat of Bradley, Shelby Takeshita of Creighton, Olivia Lansing of Drake, Katherine Shoener of Evansville, Tiffany Prager of Illinois State, Chris Playter of Missouri State, Chris Lawson of Northern Iowa, Mark Kelly of Southern Illinois and Krista Hrdlicka of Wichita State.
