Over 50 Bears earn their degrees from UNC

5/7/2019 8:40:00 AM | Baseball, Football, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Cross Country, Men's Golf, Men's Tennis, Men's Track & Field, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Golf, Women's Soccer, Women's Swimming & Diving, Women's Tennis, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball, Wrestling, Track & Field, Cross Country

By: Ryan Ronan

Every student-athlete comes to Northern Colorado with the goal of winning championships, however, the ultimate trophy comes in the form a degree. Over the weekend, 52 UNC student-athletes took the final steps to getting their hands on that highly sought-after piece of paper.

"I want to congratulate all of the student-athletes who worked so hard to get to this point," said UNC Athletic Director Darren Dunn. "Balancing the demands of being a student and an athlete is very difficult. They put in the effort to succeed in and out of the classroom, which couldn't have been done without the help and support of our faculty, coaches and academic success staff."

Among those who will be graduating include men's tennis senior Michael Kritzinger who earned the Dr. George Sage Scholar-Athlete Award with his 4.0 grade point average while earning a degree in economics.

Volleyball's Kortney Lockey was named as the recipient of the Dr. Mary Behling Scholar-Athlete Award with her 3.96 GPA in journalism.

Other note able graduates include Savannah Smith who leaves UNC as the all-time leading scorer in women's basketball history and was named Colorado Sportswoman of the Year for Women's College Basketball. Smith shared the female athlete of the year at the Den Awards. She will graduate with a degree in art and design.

Jordan Davis rewrote the men's basketball record book including becoming the all-time leading scorer in program history and prior to earning his degree in sport and exercise science, he was named Big Sky MVP. At the Den awards he was named co-male athlete of the year.

Cammie Sargent leaves UNC with a degree in music education and as the record holder in the 800-meter run.

Sargent isn't the only track and field star who walked the stage over the weekend. Dakota Divich owns the program record in the triple jump as well as a degree in dietetics.

Other Bear graduates include:

Nicholas Bailey             History
Anna Battersby             Sport and Exercise Science
Brandon Biggs             Business Administration
Jacob Bobenmoyer Sport and Exercise Science
Sherand Boyd Special Education
Nathan Buttry Criminal Justice
Zoie Campbell Journalism
Li Chen Sociology
Antoine Coates Criminology & Criminal Justice
Courtney Elterman Business Administration
Alex Exsted                  Journalism
Keifer Giau Sport and Exercise Science
Demetrius Graves Philosophy
Claire Harris Nutrition
Leilani Herrera Business Administration
Ethan Hitchcock Biological Sciences
Mackenzie Howie Biological Science
Tristan Irish Earth Sciences
Cameron Kennedy       Biological Science
Sydney Kimura Mathematics
Taylor Kochevar Interdisciplinary Studies
Kenzie Kudrna Dietetics
Samara Lishchynsky    Sport and Exercise Science
Justice Littrell Criminology & Criminal Justice
Conley Marquez Special Education
Joshua Matz Psychology
McKenna McGrath Nutrition
Kevin Meadows   Biological Sciences
Karver Pate Sport and Exercise Science
Jack Pauley                  Business Administration
Ashley Register Journalism
Noel Reid Communication Studies
Maddie Roberts Psychology
Joshua Rogerson         Geography
Brianna Salanitro Nutrition
Henry Stelzner Economics
Katie Stover Mathematics
Isaiah Swopes              Nutrition
Kasshawn Terrell Sport and Exercise Science
Edward Turnbull Business Administration
Kayla Uyemura Human Services
Zachary Wilkinson Philosophy
De'Tuan Williams Sport and Exercise Science
Kamari Williams Communication Studies
Miranda Zimmer Early Childhood Education