55 SFA Student-Athletes Receive Degrees in May Commencement

May 14, 2016

May 2016 Graduation SFA Student-Athlete Photo Gallery

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin held its 2016 spring commencement Saturday at William R. Johnson Coliseum and SFA student-athletes made a strong finish to their collegiate careers as 55 Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks received their degrees.

The contingent was a handful of SFA student-athletes that have helped comprise one of the most successful periods of SFA Athletics in program history as the 55 graduates represented over 60 combined Southland Conference championships.

Among the group were 8 first team All-Southland Conference selections (Lucas Akins, Chasity Clark, Morgan Glick, Mackenzie Handel, Cameron Meyer, Jamal Peden, Luke Sheehan, Thomas Walkup) with over two dozen others also earning All-SLC honors. In addition, the group produced two Academic All-District selections (Morgan Glick, Valeria Terentyeva), two All-Americans (Nicole Parkhurst, Thomas Walkup) and an NCAA champion in Danielle Lynn, earning the distinction as the first person in SFA history to be a Division I NCAA champion and an SFA graduate.

13 different SFA athletic programs were represented during commencement exercises, led by 10 football graduates and nine others from both baseball and men's track and field. Soccer produced six graduates with four coming from women's track and field and three each from both men's golf and softball.

The 55 SFA student-athletes were part of a record-setting May graduating class of nearly 1,500 students. Saturday's festivities also marked a pair of firsts for the commencement activities as a new tradition began of all student-athletes receiving a stole to identify them as such. It also marked the official debut of the new Johnson Coliseum videoboards, drawing excitement for the upcoming basketball seasons.

It marks a fitting conclusion to another successful SFA athletic season which produced three Southland Conference champions, two NCAA tournament appearances and the program's first NCAA Division I national champion in women's bowling. The efforts of the Lumberjack and Ladyjack athletic teams have clinched the 2015-16 SLC Commissioners Cup for the second-straight year and the fourth time overall.

2016 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN MAY 2016 STUDENT-ATHLETE GRADUATES

Baseball
Conner Fikes, Mackenzie Handel, Chris Hassold, Garrett McMullen, Eric Polivka, Taylor Raglin, Brandon Smith, Anthony Soriano, Tyler Wiedenfeld

Men's Basketball
Trey Pinkney, Thomas Walkup

Women's Basketball
Victoria Pena, Taylor Schippers

Bowling
Danielle Lynn, Nicole Parkhurst

Football
Jabralon Allen, Jamal Allen, Braxton Bearden, Nick Bruno, Barrett Cain, Zach Conque, Fred Ford, Shayvion Hatten, Lance Skyler, Jake Wallace