The US Soccer Federation has named Fulham forward Clint Dempsey and US Women's National Team dynamo Abby Wambach as its 2007 Male and Female Athletes of the Year.

Joining the pair are Heerenveen prodigy Michael Bradley and UCLA Bruins striker Lauren Cheney as Young Male and Female of the Year, respectively.

As with previous years, 50 percent of the voting was accounted for by attentive fans casting their ballots at ussoccer.com, while the remaining votes were registered by representatives of the USSF and members of the soccer media.

For Dempsey, the award is his third individual accolade at the national level and his first Male Athlete of the Year award.

In 2006, the versatile attacker was named Honda Player of the Year, largely as the result of his standout play at the 2006 World Cup, in which he scored the only American goal from open play in the final group game against Ghana. He was also ascribed as the 2004 MLS Rookie of the Year.

"It's a huge compliment to win this award, especially amongst the other fantastic nominees," Dempsey told ussoccer.com. "I appreciate the recognition and want to thank all the fans out there who voted for me."

At the other end of the gender spectrum, US Women's National Team star Wambach collected her third Female Athlete of the Year crown in as many years.

"As always, winning something of this magnitude is an honor and a privilege," Wambach said. "The entire team is made up of such high quality people and players that being chosen as the Athlete of the Year by the fans, media and U.S. Soccer representatives feels great and is very rewarding."

It was a productive year for Wambach, who scored 20 goals in 21 internationals, including six strikes in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup. For her efforts in the quadrennial tournament, she was recognized with the Silver Shoe as second top scorer behind Brazil's Marta.

Up-and-coming female striker Cheney, who will certainly be looking to emulate Wambach's success, was named Young Female of the Year for her outstanding play for the Women's Under-20 National Team. The Bruins striker ushered the team to a second place finish at the 2007 Pan American Games, which were held in Brazil.

"I'm grateful to the people who voted for me" said Cheney. "I'm really honored to join a group of young players who I've looked up to for the past few years."

While Cheney was named as the top emerging female, Bradley received the corresponding male accolade after leading Thomas Rongen's Under-20 National Team to a quarterfinal finish at the U-20 World Cup held in Canada. The young midfield powerhouse played in every game of the tournament, having further improved his acumen after the experience of a Gold Cup title for the senior team.

He has since gone on to secure a vital role for the current senior side, playing in 11 contests and scoring the lone goal against Switzerland in a friendly held in Basel.

"It's an honor anytime the fans and media pick you for an award, especially one that recognizes you as one of the top young players in the United States," Bradley stated. "I'd like to thank all of my teammates with the full team and the Under-20s that contributed to any success I had throughout the year."