May 17, 2010

PHILADELPHIA - A total of 81 student-athletes participated in the 147th annual La Salle University Commencement ceremony on Sunday at McCarthy Stadium. Included in the group were five men's basketball players and six women's players, which is among the top in the nation.

Explorer student-athletes played a part in the ceremony as well, as Rachel Stemper (volleyball) said the opening prayer while James Mauro (cross country/track) said the closing prayer.

Four student-athletes won departmental awards. Gene Curran (men's soccer) received the award from the integrated science, business and technology department while Jill Davis (women's lacrosse) won the award from the education department.

Haley Froshour (field hockey) received the foreign languages and literature departmental award and Andrew Wagoner (cross country/track) won the award from the American studies department.

La Salle men's basketball players Kimmani Barrett, Vernon Goodridge, Rodney Green, Ruben Guillandeaux and Yves Mekongo all received degrees. The group was featured in today's Philadelphia Inquirer.

Women's basketball players Antonia Gale, Danielle Mickiewicz, Morgan Robertson, Shelly Szmyt, Tara Lapetina, and Jamie Walsh also received degrees.

The graduation highlighted an outstanding year in the classroom for La Salle student-athletes. The Explorers boast four Atlantic 10 Student-Athletes of the Year, tops in the conference, two Academic All-Americans, and six teams recognized by their coaches organizations for academic success, including field hockey, which has the second best GPA in the nation.

For more information on La Salle's academic success this year, click here.