Posted: 04/12/2012
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh Athletics will hold its annual Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony and banquet on Saturday, April 28. The Hall of Fame Class of 2012 features three men who were selected as part of a special election process for their distinguished contributions to Lehigh Athletics: former swimming and diving coach and director of admissions Bruce Gardiner, and University Board of Trustees members Dan Smith ’71, who played lacrosse and was a member of the swimming team and Ron Ulrich ’66, who played tennis.
Gardiner and Smith will be formally inducted on April 28, while Ulrich will defer his induction until next year due to a scheduling conflict. Also being inducted this year will be former volleyball standout Kim (Freedman) Kellow ’99, who was elected to the Hall of Fame last year but had to defer her formal induction due to travel and scheduling conflicts.
Kimberly (Freedman) Kellow ‘99 had arguably one of the greatest careers of any women’s volleyball player in Lehigh history, setting the school record for kills in a season (566) and ranking second in school history in career kills with 1229. She was a member of Lehigh volleyball’s first ever NCAA tournament team in 1997 and was a two-time All-Patriot League first-team honoree.
In 1996, Kellow appeared in 25 matches where she recorded 245 kills and 87 digs. Things picked up for Kellow in her junior season where she had 411 kills and led Lehigh to a Patriot League Tournament title and its first and thus far only trip to the NCAA Tournament. A first team All-Patriot League selection, Kellow was named most outstanding player at the early-season Lehigh Invitational and was named to the All-Tournament team at the Navy Classic. She captured a pair of Patriot League weekly awards, and was named the Most Valuable Player at the Patriot League Tournament.
As a senior in 1998, Kellow enjoyed another tremendous season, with a program-record 566 kills. She was named to three different All-Tournament teams in the early season, including the Lehigh Mountain Hawks Classic. She was twice recognized as the Patriot League’s Player of the Week, and went on to earn Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year honors as well.
Kellow excelled off the court, graduating with a 3.59 grade point average. She was a Presidential Scholar, a member of the Dean’s List in 1997 and 1998, a two-time Patriot League Scholar Athlete of the Year for volleyball, and a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection in 1998. She was recognized as Lehigh’s Graduating Female Athlete of the Year in 1999.
After graduating with a B.S. in Biology, Kellow began her masters in Chemistry as a Presidential Scholar so she could pursue her dream as a perfumer. Kellow is now just one of only 500 perfumers in the entire world.
A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Kellow spent several years in London, England working for Fermenich. Kellow has since relocated to New Jersey with her children Easton and Lila Grace. She now works for Takasago International, a Japanese fragrance corporation.
Formal induction into the Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame will take place on Saturday, April 28 and the induction is sponsored by the Lehigh Athletics Partnership. For more information, please contact Greg Strobel at (610) 758-3589 or gos2@lehigh.edu.