May 14, 2012

DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois will see 66 current and former student-athletes leave school with their NIU degrees in 2011-12 as 40 current and former Huskie student-athletes from 11 different sports programs earned their degrees from NIU Saturday. They join the 19 December graduates and seven others scheduled to complete their studies this summer. In all, student-athletes from 16 different sports programs will leave NIU with degrees in hand this year.

NIU Associate Vice-President and Director of Athletics Jeff Compher said graduation is the No. 1 goal for every student-athlete who puts on the Huskie uniform.

"The very first part of our mission statement talks about developing champions in the classroom, and there is no greater measure of that than graduation," Compher said. "Congratulations to our student-athletes for achieving this milestone which will pay dividends for the rest of their lives. Congratulations also to our coaching staff, to the faculty members and advisers on campus, and especially to the staff in the Student-Athlete Academic Support Services (S.A.A.S.S.) Office, led by Liz Tovar, for their guidance and support of our student-athletes."

The group is led by 16 members of the Huskie football team, including four - offensive lineman Matt Krempel, punter Ryan Neir and defensive linemen Daniel Green and Sean Progar - who will return to the squad in 2012 for their senior seasons. Tight end Adam Kiel, one of 11 members of the 2011 senior class on the list, will depart Northern Illinois with two degrees in hand as he earned a second bachelor's degree in operations management and information systems this spring.

The women's track and field/cross country, and women's gymnastics programs contributed 10 and seven graduates, respectively, to the list, while men's and women's soccer and baseball each saw five of their former student-athletes graduate. Every Huskie program except men's golf, which did not have a senior on the roster in 2011-12, had at least one graduate this year.

Northern Illinois 2011-12 student-athlete graduates represent 26 different majors from nearly every college on campus, from art, nursing and elementary education to economics, history, meteorology and biology, to mechanical engineering, marketing, accountancy and finance. There were no more than six student-athletes in any major with organizational & corporate communications leading the way with six and marketing, sociology/criminology, and health sciences (pre-physical therapy) each the choice of five 2011-12 student-athlete grads.

NIU held commencement ceremonies on campus this past weekend. Below is a complete list of NIU's 2011-12 student-athlete graduates by sport with their majors. Returning student-athletes are indicated by a *.

BASEBALL (5)
Kyle Glancy, Marketing
Cory Krupp, Marketing
Tony Manville, History
Marvin Sanchez, Sociology
Troy White, Marketing

MEN'S BASKETBALL (2)
Cameron Madlock, General Studies
Tyler Storm, General Studies

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (2)
Kim Davis, General Studies
Courtney Shelton, Organizational/Corporate Communications

WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY (10)
Breanna Brevitt, Health Education
Mary Bull, Accountancy
Kathryn Downin, Journalism
Roneisha Frye, Organizational/Corporate Communications
Megan Gregory, Art
Chanel Kellyman, General Public Health
Kelly Moser, Nutrition & Dietetics
Sunsea Shaw, Sociology/Criminology
Jenner Sio, Nursing
Jessica Troike, Meteorology

FOOTBALL (16)
Willie Clark, Organizational Communications
Adam Coleman, Health Sciences (Pre-Physical Therapy)
Jordan Delegal, General Studies
Ryan Fillingim, General Studies
* Daniel Green, Marketing
Jasmin Hopkins, General Studies
Kyle Jenkins, Physical Education
Adam Kiel, Operations Management and Information Systems
* Matt Krempel, Health Sciences (Pre-Physical Therapy)
* Ryan Neir, Finance
Ron Newcomb, General Studies
Nathan Palmer, General Studies
Joe Pawlak, Sociology
D.J. Pirkle, Physical Education
* Sean Progar, Sociology/Criminology
Scott Wedige, Marketing

WOMEN'S GOLF (4)
Carissa Burdi, Organizational/Corporate Communications
Michelle Caporusso, Sociology
Katie Kuhn, Political Science/Public Law
Kelsie Passolt, Journalism

GYMNASTICS (7)
Shonda Clore, Elementary Education
Ashley Guerra, Health Sciences (Pre-Physical Therapy)
Sarah Hurley, Nursing
Ashley Major, Health Sciences (Pre-Physical Therapy)
Tamara Murskyj, Health Sciences (Pre-Physical Therapy)
Tanya Rachan, Biological Sciences
Holly Reichard, Mechanical Engineering

MEN'S SOCCER (5)
Per Faerden, Finance
Juan Hoyos, Sociology/Criminology
Kenneth Kranz, Business Administration
Luis Mojica, Sociology/Criminology
Pat Sloan, Finance

WOMEN'S SOCCER (5)
Meaghan Bennett, Health Education
Becca Ford, Physical Education
Megan Harry, Operations Management & Information Systems
Kelsey Passaglia, Health Education
Christen Schuler, Management

SOFTBALL (1)
Andrea Colosimo, Mechanical Engineering

MEN'S TENNIS (1)
Roman Turtygin, Organizational & Corporate Communications

WOMEN'S TENNIS (2)
Sara McLaughlin, Organizational & Corporate Communications
Martina Schnapp, Economics

VOLLEYBALL (2)
Kristin Hoffman, History
Maddie Hughes, Nursing

WRESTLING (4)
Mike Lukowski, Communications/Media Studies
Izzy Montemayor, Finance
John Odeen, Rhetoric and Public Communications
Zach Taylor, Education

-- NIU -

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