Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech held its spring commencement ceremony Friday evening, and more than more than 69 Virginia Tech student-athletes received their diplomas.
The university held the ceremony online because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the virtual event featured videos, photos, special guests, and performances.
The group of student-athletes consisted of eight football players, including Xavier Burke (property management), Andrew Motuapuaka (multimedia journalism), Emmanuel Belmar (property management), Oscar Bradburn (marketing management), Jarrod Hewitt (property management), Zachariah Hoyt (accounting and information systems), Khalil Ladler (criminology), and Deshawn McClease (consumer studies).
The contingent of graduates also included 17 swimmers – 10 on the women's side and seven on the men's side. Those on the women's team who graduated were Jenna Beattie (communication), Jessica Beattie (human development), Baillie Cameron (marketing management), Caroline de Jager (clinical neuroscience), Annalee Johnson (management – management consulting and analytics), Kayla Purcell (psychology and cognitive behavioral neuroscience), Erin Scott (marketing management), Margarita Ryan (management – human resource management) and Hannah Wilding (clinical neuroscience). In addition, Jessica Arnold earned two degrees, one in human nutrition, foods, and exercise and one in psychology.
Those on the men's swimming and diving team who graduated were Aaron Boyd (business information technology; operation and supply chain management), Hassler Carroll (public relations), Justin Rich (real estate), Norbert Szabo (hospitality and tourism management), Sean Workman (mining engineering), Collin Fiala (finance; investments management and chartered financial analyst; human resource management, and Simon Shi (computer science).
Six women's cross country and track and field team members graduated, including Sara Freix (biological systems engineering), Sarah Edwards (interior design), Mikayla Richardson (computer science), Eszter Bajnok (international studies and business), Kajsa Wennberg (management; management consulting and analytics & management; entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology management & management; human resources management), Kanajzae Brown (biological sciences), and Pavla Kuklova, who received degrees in both human development and psychology.
On the men's cross country and track and field team, five graduated, including Jaelyn Demory (computational modeling and data analytics), Matt Reinhart (industrial design), and Matija Muhar (multimedia journalism; sports media and analytics). Peter Seufer earned a degree in economics to go with the finance degree that he received in 2019. Also, Diego Zarate wrapped up coursework toward three degrees – sociology, criminology and psychology.
Five wrestlers graduated, and those in that group included Cody Hughes (management; entrepreneurship, innovation and technology management), David McFadden (human development), Korbin Myers (human development), Ryan More (computer science), and Dom Latona (biological sciences).
The lacrosse program saw four players graduate – Mary Clare McCarthy (finance; investment management and chartered financial analyst), Taylor Caskey (multimedia journalism), Sydney Gagnon (multimedia journalism), and Kiley Kettle (human nutrition, foods and exercise; dietetics).
Also, four women's soccer players graduated – Jordan Hemmen (biological systems engineering), Olivia Odle (management; entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology management), Bridget Patch (psychology), and Lilly Weber (public relations).
The volleyball program saw four players graduate – Melody Caloyannides (mechanical engineering), Tabitha McKinzie (communication), Carol Raffety (criminology and sociology), and Ester Talamazzi (marketing management; digital marketing strategy & management; entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology management).
Two men's tennis players and two women's tennis players graduated, including Mitch Harper (management; management consulting and analytics), Alex Ribeiro (management; management consulting and analytics), Shene Disbergen (human nutrition, foods and exercise), and Natalie Novotna, who earned degrees in both biology and chemistry.
The baseball program had three players to graduate – Peyton Alford (psychology), Graham Seitz (accounting information systems; accounting & finance; financial accounting), and Reagan Teegarden (management; entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology management).
In addition, two members of the women's basketball, women's golf and men's soccer programs graduated. Trinity Baptiste (sociology) and Kendyl Brooks (human development) were the women's basketball players who received their diplomas, while Kristin Hearp (marketing management) and Sarah Spicer (economics) were the women's golfers who received their degrees. From the men's soccer team, Jon Ingason (psychology) and Brendan Moyers (chemical engineering) graduated.
Also, one men's golfer and one softball player graduated – Mark Lawrence Jr. (finance; investments management and chartered financial analyst) and Olivia Lattin, who received her second degree (management; management consulting and analytics). Lattin also graduated with a finance degree in 2019.
Finally, 18 members of Virginia Tech's spirit squads - cheerleading, HighTechs and HokieBirds - graduated. That group includes Andrew Kincaid (wildlife conservation),
Dillon Morell (statistics), Emily Santos (curriculum and instruction), Jessica Hauser (psychology), Lauren Keener (human nutrition, foods, and exercise), Matt Madrazo (packaging systems design), Noel Taylor (public relations), Nicole Thomas (business administration), Stephen Wilder (criminology), Will Borin (sustainable biomaterials), and Zach Scharf (sociology).
Tech's Office of Student-Athlete Academic Support Services expects 11 student-athletes to finish coursework toward degrees this summer. That group includes women's basketball players Taja Cole and Lydia Rivers and men's basketball player Branden Johnson – all of whom are expected to earn master's degrees in Agriculture and Life Sciences. Wabissa Bede (communication studies), P.J. Horne (sociology) and Aisha Sheppard (multimedia journalism; sports media and analytics) should earn bachelor degrees by the end of the summer as well.