General | 7/14/2025 12:00:01 PM

OXFORD, Ohio- The River States Conference is pleased to announce the selection of Midway University men's and women's cross country coach Jay Walls as the 2024-25 River States Conference Coach of Character. Walls is the first cross country coach to be honored by the conference since the award was started in 2016, and joins Sherrill Smith as winners from Midway University.

The RSC Coach of Character award is patterned after the NAIA award of the same name. It is given annually to a head coach who has been outstanding in embracing the five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character program using methods of teaching character through sport and in community leadership through volunteering or service.

The five character values of NAIA Champions of Character are Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Servant Leadership and Sportsmanship. The award was first established in the conference in 2015-16. As the conference honoree, Walls will have his name forwarded to the national level as a nominee for the NAIA Coach of Character Award.

In a nomination for Walls, Midway University Assistant Athletic Director Dylan Brown stated the NAIA's core values are fully integrated into Walls' teams.

"Coach Walls is always working on finding new ways to implement the NAIA's five core values of the NAIA Champions of Character initiative into his cross country programs," Brown said. "He is always pushing his student athletes to not only be their best in competition, but he also makes sure they understand the importance of being successful student-athletes in the classroom."

Throughout the 2024-25 academic year, the cross country programs at Midway were very active in the community, putting in over 120 hours of community service. Both teams assisted in working the triathlon where they helped with check-in, body marking, handing out timing chips, and handing out food and water to the athletes. They also assisted with packet pick up and check-in for the Iron Horse Half Marathon & 12K.

The Eagles also did exceptionally well in the classroom with both teams achieving well above a 3.0 for the 2024-25 academic year.

During his tenure as head coach of the cross country programs, Walls has led the Eagles to numerous meet victories including the 2021 River States Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship. After leading the men’s cross country team to their first conference championship in program history, Walls was named the RSC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for his efforts. 

In 2020, Walls led the women’s cross country team to a runner-up finish in the RSC Championship as they advanced to the NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Championship.

YEAR BY YEAR -- RIVER STATES CONFERENCE COACH OF CHARACTER AWARD WINNERS
2015-16 -- Samantha DeMartine (Asbury), Softball Head Coach
2016-17 -- Tiffani Selhorst (IU East), Women's Basketball Head Coach
2017-18 -- Chris Hammond (Rio Grande), Softball Head Coach
2018-19 -- John Mills (Alice Lloyd), Women's Basketball Head Coach
2019-20 -- Will Shouse (Asbury), Men's Basketball Head Coach
2020-21 -- Sherrill Smith (Midway), Women's Soccer Head Coach
2021-22 -- Ken French (Oakland City), Men's Basketball Head Coach
2022-23 -- Wiley Brown (IU Southeast), Men's Basketball Head Coach
2023-24 -- Devan Spriggs (Shawnee State), Volleyball Head Coach
2024-25 -- Jay Walls (Midway), Cross Country Head Coach