The 2011 Lindenwood Athletics Hall of Fame Class was inducted on Friday night at the Columns Banquet Center in St. Charles, Mo. A large crowd was on hand to help celebrate seven individuals and three teams that were being honored.

The meritorious service award was given to Keith Askenasi, one of the earliest male student-athletes in school history. Among his many accomplishments were helping to coin the nickname Lions and the school's colors of black and gold. He told the crowd how the other finalists for Lindenwood's nickname were Leopards, Lizards, and Llamas, and the school's colors came from the popular baseball team at the time, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Six former student-athletes were inducted into the Hall of Fame. They were football players Joe McKinney and Ryan Silch, women's soccer players Sharon (Lawson) Bickel and Jennifer (Siess) Gansner, softball player Karen (Peer) Dohrmann, and women's volleyball player Kara Wall.

The three teams inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame were the 2003 men's outdoor track and field team, the 2004 clay target shooting team, and the 2005-06 women's ice hockey team. All three captured national championships.

The 2011 Student Achievement Awards went to women's bowler Laura Fonnegra and women's cross country and track runner Jessica Ching. Fonnegra participated in the 2011 Women's World Championships and helped Columbia win a bronze medal in team play. Ching set the Hong Kong race walk national record and was a Capital One Academic All-American.

Lindenwood alumnus and St. Louis sports radio personality Bob Ramsey was the emcee at the event and Rev. Dr. Michael Mason gave the invocation. Lindenwood President James D. Evans, Ph.D. and Lindenwood Athletics Director John Creer both spoke at the induction ceremony and helped present the awards.