BATON ROUGE — Former LSU women’s basketball All-American Sylvia Fowles (watch video on WNBA.com) led a group of 48 student-athletes who received degrees Friday in graduation exercises held throughout the LSU campus.
Fowles, now successfully playing professional basketball in the WNBA and overseas, was part of the most successful era in basketball at LSU. She helped lead the Lady Tigers to four-straight NCAA Women’s Final Fours while earning multiple All-America honors and also representing the United States of American in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Fowles received her degree in general studies and was joined by women’s basketball teammates Erica White (general studies) and Kristen Morris (management) who also participated in graduation exercises.
Colt David, a placekicker who in 2008 became the all-time leading scorer in LSU football history, was presented his diploma Friday in construction management. He was one of eight football players to receive their degree on Friday, including Chad Moody who received his finance degree with honors (cum laude).
Sixteen of 18 seniors on the 2008 LSU football team have now received their degrees.
Women’s golfer Caroline Martens took time out for practice for the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships to receive her degree in psychology. The Oslo, Norway, senior will become just the fifth LSU women’s golfer to appear in at least three NCAA Division I Golf Championships in the 30-year history of the LSU program.
Men’s basketball’s Alex Farrer earned his degree with still a year of eligibility remaining, while baseball’s Louis Coleman, Nicholas Pontiff, Ryan Byrd and Nolan Cain along with student assistant coach Kyle Beerbohm and manager Matt Montgomery graduated but were unable to attend ceremonies because they were in Starkville, Miss., for the final weekend of the regular season.
However, the baseball players were honored in a special ceremony held by baseball coach Paul Mainieri and his staff at the team hotel Friday morning in Starkville.
Also receiving degrees with honors were volleyball player Lauren DeGirolamo (math ? summa cum laude), gymnast Amanda Morales (psychology) and track and field thrower Rabun Fox (kinesiology), both cum laude; and, Mallory Thompson from track and field (international studies ? magna cum laude),
Six received their advanced degrees from the Graduate School ? Stefanie Carver (swimming and diving), Josh Dicharry (football), Kristen Hobbs (softball), Kim Meck (women’s golf), John Woolsey (track and field) and Anthony Zehyoue (football).
The complete list of student-athletes who graduated on Friday:
Agriculture
Louis Coleman, Baseball, Ag. Business
Arts & Sciences
Charles Alexander, Football, General Studies
Sarah Bedell, Swimming & Diving Communication Studies
Ryan Byrd, Baseball, General Studies
Nolan Cain, Baseball, General Studies
Niko Dalman, Swimming & Diving General Studies
Lauren DeGirolamo*, Volleyball, Math
Sarah Dicharry, Swimming & Diving Psychology
Anastasiya Dubova, Tennis, International Studies
Sylvia Fowles, Basketball, General Studies
Katie Gilmore, Swimming & Diving History
Chandler Kleinpeter, Women’s Tennis, General Studies
Caroline Martens, Women’s Golf, Psychology
Monica McJunkin, Swimming & Diving Communication Studies
Sabrina Messmer, Swimming & Diving Communication Studies
Amanda Morales**, Gymnastics, Psychology
Sara Pollock, Soccer, Communication Studies
Lauren Simons, Swimming & Diving International Studies
Shannon Stein, Softball, General Studies
Mallory Thompson***, Track & Field, International Studies
Erica White,, Basketball, General Studies
Honors:
* summa cum laude
** cum laude
*** magna cum laude
Basic Sciences
Christina Herubin, Swimming & Diving Microbiology
Jamie Wright, Swimming & Diving Biological Sciences
Business Administration
Jeremy Bunting, Football, Accounting
Connor Farber, Swimming & Diving Management
Alex Farrer, Basketball, Management
Christoph Lubenau, Swimming & Diving Finance
Chad Moody*, Football, Finance
Kristen Morris, Basketball, Management
Nicholas Pontiff, Baseball, Management
Marina Skender, Volleyball, Management
Honors – * cum laude
Education
Kyle Beerbohm, Baseball, Kinesiology
Jeremy Benton, Football, Kinesiology
Vanessa Duenas, Swimming & Diving Kinesiology
Rabun Fox*, Track & Field, Kinesiology
Christy Zirkle, Track & Field, Elementary Education
Honors: * cum laude
Engineering
Kevin Braud, Swimming & Diving Construction Management
Colt David, Football, Construction Mgt.
Valerie Vogler, Soccer, Mechanical Engineering
Mass Communication
Melissa Clarke, Soccer, Mass Communication
Josh Graham, Football, Mass Communication
Kate Spytek, Volleyball, Mass Communication
Graduate School
Stefanie Carver, Swimming & Diving, Education
Josh Dicharry, Football, Business Administration
Kristen Hobbs, Softball, Kinesiology
Kim Meck, Women’s Golf, Accounting
John Woosley, Track & Field, ISDS – PhD
Anthony Zehyoue, Football,