Milwaukee City Wire

The Milwaukee Athletic Department held its annual Golden Panthers awards ceremony on Monday, recognizing the achievements of student-athletes from the Spring and Fall of 2023 and Winter 2023-24 seasons. The event took place in the UWM Union Ballroom with attendance from student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and university personnel.

Ari Miller from volleyball and Johnny Kelliher from baseball were honored as Senior Student-Athletes of the Year. Other notable awardees included Natalie Block for Women's Track & Field and BJ Freeman for Men's Basketball as Student-Athletes of the Year.

The Michael Poll Spirit Award was given to Men's Swimming & Diving, while Women's Soccer was named Team of the Year. The Comeback of the Year award went to Volleyball vs. Air Force on September 15, 2023.

Ben Lorenz from Men's Swimming & Diving and Ari Miller received the Iron Panther (Strength & Conditioning) Award. The James Wright Recognition Award recipients included Kendall Edwards in Women's Soccer and Langston Wilson in Men's Basketball.

Joey Soldenwagner was recognized as Cheer & Stunt MVP, while Ariana Hahn received Dance Team MVP honors. The Horizon League Community Service Award went to Baseball.

Jay Jensen's performance in Men's Swimming & Diving earned him a Record-Breaking Performance award. Newcomers of the Year were Nadiia Konieva in Tennis and Liam Richards in Men's Track & Field.

The Faculty Athletic Representative Award had multiple recipients across various sports disciplines including Giorgia Cavestro in Tennis and Zach Howell in Men's Basketball.

Baseball and Tennis shared the Raise Your Sights Highest Overall Team GPA Award. Mara Freeman led a group recognized as Smartest Panthers for their academic achievements across different sports categories.