BATON ROUGE — A total of 16 LSU student-athletes received their degrees during summer commencement exercises Friday morning at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Highlighting the group is Track and Field athlete Anna Lyons who graduated in kinesiology and was named a University Medalist as one of the two students among the graduating class of over 750 having the highest grade-point average of 4.0. Lyons was a member of the 2008 NCAA national championship women’s team and completed her 2009 season ranked 16th in the nation in the javelin.
Swimming and Diving’s Victoria Givens received her degree magna cum laude (3.7 GPA) in biological sciences. Also graduating representing that same sport is Julius Gloeckner, receiving his degree in finance. Gloeckner was the 2009 SEC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in swimming and diving, a six-time NCAA All-American and holds six school records.
R. J. Jackson, a member of the 2007 BCS football national champions, received his degree in general studies. Women’s basketball player Mesha Williams, also receiving a degree in general studies, played on two of the LSU Lady Tigers Final Four teams in 2007 and 2008.
Kyna Washington who received her agriculture with a major in textiles, apparel design and merchandising was a major part of LSU volleyball’s return to national prominence as the Tigers won four consecutive SEC Western Division titles en route to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2005-08.
Softball’s Tayl’r Hollis and Erika Sluss received their general studies degrees in the ceremony. The pair was on NCAA Super Regional teams in 2006 and 2007 for the Tigers at a time when LSU spent all of 2007 in the top 10 and claimed its fourth SEC Western Division and Tournament crowns. The duo played a major role as LSU recorded a program best .974 fielding percentage in 2008.
Two student-athletes received graduate school degrees: Ben Broussard (Track and Field) in business administration and four-time gymnastics All-American Kristi Esposito (education). Esposito, a member of LSU’s first Super Six team in 2008, was a three-time CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American.
The complete list of LSU student-athletes who graduated during Friday’s commencement exercises:
Agriculture
Kyna Washington (Volleyball), Textiles, Apparel Design and Merchandising
Arts & Sciences
Andrew Decker (Football), Communications Studies
Matthew Gaudet (Baseball), General Studies
Tayl’r Hollis (Softball), General Studies
R. J. Jackson (Football), General Studies
Jessica Ohanaja (Track and Field), General Studies
Jacob Simmons (Track and Field), General Studies
Erika Sluss (Softball), General Studies
Mesha Williams (Basketball), General Studies
Basic Sciences
Victoria Givens (Swimming and Diving), Biological Sciences (magna cum laude)
Business
Julius Gloeckner (Swimming and Diving), Finance
Jaclyn Moseley (Soccer), Management
Education
Anna Lyons (Track and Field), Kinesiology (University Medalist)
Mass Communication
Stephanie Cota (Swimming and Diving), Mass Communication
Graduate School
Ben Broussard (Track and Field), Business Administration
Kristi Esposito (Gymnastics), Education