May 29, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle University held its 146th annual commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 17th. Sixty-three student-athletes were among the more than 1,600 students receiving degrees.

Three student-athletes capped off a successful academic year for the Class of 2009 by earning departmental honors at graduation. Andrew Bernhard (soccer) earned distinction for his accomplishments in the Computer Science program, and Tanya Lindenmuth (diving) was awarded honors for her success in the Fine Arts program. Maria Allegretto (field hockey) earned honors from the athletic department for attaining the highest grade point average of all senior student-athletes through her work in the English department.

In addition to these honorees on graduation day, the Class of 2009 has seen numerous academic accolades throughout the year.

Bernhard and Christa Plummer (track) were named the Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year for their successes both athletically and academically. Bernhard, who finished his soccer career on La Salle's top 10 list for saves, earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team honors and was named to the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference team. He, along with teammate and classmate Jim Davis, also earned academic distinction from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

Plummer, who won three Atlantic 10 event championships this year and was named Performer of the Year at the outdoor championship, also earned Academic All-Conference honors for both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Christa Dominick (volleyball) was recently awarded the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship from the Atlantic 10. The senior was also a CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second Team pick and earned Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference honors.

Whitney Madron (field hockey) earned Academic All-Conference honors and was one of four seniors and 18 Explorers overall to earn academic recognition from the National Field Hockey Coaches' Association. The other three to earn NFCA academic honors were Allegretto, Jess Menge and Christy Miller.

Four Explorer seniors were also awarded with Academic All-Area honors, voted on by Philadelphia-area sports information directors. Bernhard, Carleen Caldwell (swimming), Madron and Mary Clare Parrott (cross country) were honored. Caldwell was also part of four record-setting relays during the season.

On the team level, five Explorer squads earned the NCAA Division I APR award - women's cross country, women's basketball, women's indoor track, women's outdoor track and women's rowing. Both the men's and women's soccer team earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award and women's cross country was recognized by the USTFCCCA as an all-academic team.

The La Salle athletic department congratulates the hard work of all the seniors who graduated and wish them the best of luck in the future.