May 2, 2005

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Women's volleyball player Karen Fruit and men's soccer player Antou Jallow were honored as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Athletes of the Year, highlighting the annual UWM Student-Athlete Award Reception held Sunday afternoon at the UWM Union.

Fruit and men's soccer player Khaled El-Ahmad also won the prestigious UWM Alumni Association Herman Kluge Award, given to the top senior male and female student-athletes.

Fruit was the Horizon League Volleyball Player of the Year, leading the Panthers to the Horizon League regular season championship. She was an All-Horizon League, All-Region and honorable mention All-America selection while setting numerous school records throughout the season. She also excelled off the court, winning Horizon League All-Academic honors.

Jallow was the Horizon League Men's Soccer Player of the Year, leading UWM to regular season and tournament titles into the league before helping the Panthers into the second round of the NCAA Tournament. An All-America honoree both athletically and academically, Jallow finished his UWM career with a long list of school records. He has already signed a contract to continue his soccer career in his native Sweden.

El-Ahmad was an anchor on UWM's men's soccer team, overcoming injury to help the Panthers win the Horizon League and advance in the NCAA Tournament. El-Ahmad, a team captain, was a three-time All-Horizon League honoree while also excelling in the classroom. A UWM Scholar-Athlete With Distinction, El-Ahmad is a marketing and international studies major with a 3.571 GPA.

Other notable individual award-winners included James Wright of the men's basketball team receiving the Athletic Board Special Recognition Award and Amber Perri of the track and field team winning the Athletic Director's Award for having the highest cumulative grade-point average. The Faculty Athletic Representative's Awards were given to the student-athlete on each team with the highest grade-point average, all UWM Scholar Athletes With Distinction (3.5-4.0 GPA) and UWM Scholar Athletes (3.25-3.5 GPA) were recognized.

Among team award-winners, the men's soccer team won the Horizon League Sportsmanship Award, the women's volleyball team won the Horizon League Community Outreach Award and the women's volleyball and men's cross country teams claimed the Horizon League Academic Award for having the highest team GPA's in the department.

Sunday's event also included the induction of three new members of UWM's Athletic Hall of Fame. Men's soccer standout Gerard Lagos, women's basketball star Jeanne Look and track and field/cross country record-holder Cory Peterson were all honored.