DEKALB, Ill. – Fifty-seven current and former Northern Illinois University student-athletes were included among the newest NIU alumni as spring and summer commencement ceremonies were held this past weekend at the NIU Convocation Center.
The NIU Class of 2017 student-athletes earned degrees from five different colleges, led by 38 coming from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. NIU's College of Health and Human Science granted 10 degrees, the College of Business had eight graduates while three Huskie student-athletes received a degree from the College of Education and one from the College of Engineering. Three Huskie student-athletes, Richard Hall and Adam Lightner of the men's soccer team along with Jessica Wooldridge of the women's soccer team, completed double majors.
Huskie student-athletes earned degrees in 19 different majors, led by 13 in Organizational and Corporate Communications.
Among the NIU graduates are a number of student-athletes who achieved impressive accomplishments on the field of play, including four-time First Team All-MAC softball honoree Katy Grable, 2017 MAC Outdoor Track Championships Most Outstanding Performer Hope Schmelzle, 2016 MAC Volleyball Player of the Year Jenna Radtke and three 2017 NCAA Wrestling Championship qualifiers, Trace Engelkes, Shaun'Qae McMurtry and Shawn Scott.
The NIU Cross Country/Track and Field program has the most 2017 graduates with 10, the Huskie baseball team follows with eight grads. In total, 13 different sport programs were represented among the 56 student-athlete graduates.
Baseball (8)
Ryne Blanton – Economics
Andrew Frankenreider – Operations & Information Management
Jason Gasser – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Aaron Rumfield – General Studies
Carl Russell – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Jon Savarise – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Austin Stout – General Studies
Lucas Yapp – General Studies
Men's Basketball (2)
Dontel Highsmith – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Marin Maric – General Studies
Women's Basketball (4)
Shavonne Brewer – Sociology
Cassidy Glenn – Pre-Physical Therapy
Jazmine Harris – Sociology
Ally Lehman – General Studies
Football (5)
Jackson Abresch – Operations and Information Management
Jacob Ambrose – General Studies
Shane Evans – Finance
Mario Jones – General Studies
Jamaal Payton – Engineering
Men's Golf (1)
Raphael Denais – General Studies
Women's Golf (1)
Sydney Brickey – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Gymnastics (6)
Jamyra Carter – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Taylor Crumley – Psychology
Megan Gilliam – Communicative Disorders
Megan Greenfield – Kinesiology
Jaelyn Olsen – Kinesiology
Brittany Wenzel – Communicative Disorders
Men's Soccer (5)
Daegan DeBono – Finance
Richard Hall – Economics and Applied Mathematics
Albert Levett – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Adam Lighter – Applied Mathematics and Economics
Cody Witkowski – Marketing
Women's Soccer (3)
Alex Elias – Mathematics Education
Emily Nulty – Health Administration
Jessica Wooldridge – Rehabilitation Services and Communicative Disorders
Softball (3)
Jordyn Bowen – Finance
Kayti Grable – Journalism
Skylar Weinstein – Marketing
Track and Field/Cross Country (10)
Danielle Dlabal – Marketing
Jourdan Doffeny – General Studies
Imani Haynes – Fashion Merchandising
Kelsey Hildreth – Nutrition, Dietetics and Wellness
Cheyenne Hoerr – General Studies
Alexandria Isom – Journalism
Christina Monson – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Taylor Perkins – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Hope Schmelzle – Psychology
Logan Tillmon – Communicative Disorders
Volleyball (4)
Bri Horwath – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Mary Grace Kelly – Pre-Physical Therapy
Jenna Radtke – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Lauren Zielinski – Psychology
Wrestling (4)
Trace Engelkes – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Bryan Loughlin – Sociology
Shaun'Qae McMurtry – Organizational and Corporate Communications
Shawn Scott - Sociology
