The winners of the L.F. "Tow" Diehm Inspirational Award for 2009-10 are Simon Ejdemyr and Roman Martinez, while Polina Ermoshina and Nanette Wittenberg are the recipients of the Leslie Self Inspirational Award.

Started in 1997-98, this is the 13th year the awards have been presented to a UNM male and female student-athlete based on leadership, character, determination and commitment to team.

This year's recipients will be recognized at halftime of the Feb. 9 men's basketball game against Wyoming. Presenting the awards will be Tow's daughter, Teresa Austin, and Randy Self.

A native of Boras, Sweden, Simon Ejdemyr (ED-uh-meer) was a highly decorated member of the men's soccer team from 2006-09. On the pitch, he was named to the College Soccer News Freshman All-American first team in 2006, and was a four-time Mountain Pacific Sports Federation all-conference performer.

Academically, Ejdemyr received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team and was the recipient of the Academic All-American of the Year award, receiving the highest amount of votes of all the Division I nominees in the fall of 2009. He was also the Lobo Club Male Student-Athlete of Year for 2009-10.

Ejdemyr graduated from UNM last year with a degree in Political Science and a 4.15 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale. He has applied to Stanford, Harvard, Yale and New York University in pursuit of his Ph.D. in Political Science.

Roman Martinez (El Paso, Texas) was one of UNM's most respected student-athletes based on his accomplishments athletically, academically and in the community from 2006-10.

Martinez led Lobo men's basketball to a 30-5 record in 2009-10, setting a school record for wins. UNM won its second straight Mountain West Conference regular-season title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1999.

Martinez became the first Lobo to reach 1,000 points, 600 rebounds, 200 3-pointers and 200 assists in a career. He tied for 2nd all-time at UNM in games played (133), was 19th in scoring (1,159), 10th in rebounding (633) and 6th in 3-pointers (205).

Martinez was the national winner of the 2010 Chip Hilton Award, given to a Division I men's basketball graduating senior for demonstrating outstanding character, leadership and talent.

In the classroom, Martinez was an ESPN the Magazine 2nd Team Academic All-American in 2009-10. He was Academic All-MWC all four seasons and graduated last year with a business degree and a 3.50 cumulative GPA.

Martinez is currently playing professional basketball for U.B. La Palma in Spain.

Polina Ermoshina (Moscow, Russia) joined an elite group of Lobo skiers with seven All-America finishes at the NCAA Championships from 2007-10. She was the NCAA national runner-up in the 15K Classic in 2009 and a four-year team Most Valuable Player.

A member of the National Ski Coaches Association All-Academic Team in 2008, Ermoshina was the Lobo Club Female Student-Athlete of Year for 2009-10. She graduated from UNM last summer with a degree in Organizational Management and a 3.41 cumulative GPA.

Nanette Wittenberg (Houston, Texas) is a senior with the Lobo swimming and diving team. A three-year letterwinner and team captain, Wittenberg competes in the breaststroke, butterfly and individual medley. She has a 4.04 cumulative GPA and is slated to graduate in May with a double major in Marketing and Operations Management.

Wittenberg has been selected to the UNM Dean's List since 2007 and is a three-time MWC Scholar-Athlete.

During the 2009-10 academic year, Wittenberg was involved in a vast amount of community service projects: Los Duranes Easter Egg Hunt, student letterman Easter Egg Hunt, Toy for Tots Christmas toy drive, hospital visits, swim clinic at the Thomas Bell Community Center, goal-setting workshop at Horizon Academy and Montessori Elementary School, and Coaches vs. Cancer.

Wittenberg spent more than 100 volunteer hours in the UNM athletics marketing department and was co-owner of Throwback 434, LLC, a business created by a UNM management class that raised money for Special Olympics of New Mexico.

About Tow Diehm
L.F. "Tow" Diehm served the University of New Mexico for 40 years, most of that time spent as the head athletics trainer. He was also an athletics administrator and a lobbyist for the department to the New Mexico state legislature. Tow passed away on May 1, 1998.

About Leslie Self
Leslie Self was the wife of Randy Self, who is the former President of the Lobo Club and owner of Spectator's Sports Bar and Grille. Leslie also passed away in 1998 after a long battle with cancer.

Previous Award Winners

Tow Diehm Award
1997-98 Pepe Caballero - tennis
1998-99 Marcos White - basketball
1999-00 Daniel Reyes - football
2000-01 Brian Smith - basketball
2001-02 Jarrod Baxter - football
2002-03 Dusty Young - baseball
2003-04 Divan Coetzee - tennis
2004-05 Nick Speegle - football
2005-06 Chris Carlson - baseball; Lars Loseth - skiing/soccer
2006-07 Robb Bierbaum - golf
2007-08 Jeremy Johnson - cross country/track and field; John Sullivan - football
2008-09 Johnny Parkes - tennis
2009-10 Simon Ejdemyr - soccer; Roman Martinez - basketball

Leslie Self Award
1997-98 Tamika Stukes - basketball
1998-99 Aimee Hites - tennis
1999-00 Nikki Heckroth - basketball
2000-01 Quinn Michie - swimming
2001-02 Kristi Larsen - golf
2002-03 Jennifer Delich - skiing
2003-04 Amanda Barnes - track and field; Cassie Chavez - softball; Nicole Overeem - swimming
2004-05 Kristen Winters - soccer
2005-06 Maja Kovacek - tennis
2006-07 Terryn Granados - soccer; Jen Hale - swimming
2007-08 Katie Coronado - track and field; Tori Clarridge - swimming
2008-09 Sarah Kwasigroch - volleyball
2009-10 Polina Ermoshina - skiing; Nanette Wittenberg - swimming