Missouri State University

Missouri State University conferred 29 degrees to current and former student-athletes during commencement ceremonies Friday at JQH Arena in Springfield. Eight of the graduates received scholastic honors, including one summa cum laude graduate, two magna cum laude honorees, and five cum laude graduates.

By sport, the Fall 2008 Missouri State student-athlete graduates are as follows:

Baseball

Jacob Bunten

Chris Mackey

Josh Mazzola (cum laude)

Kyle Paul

Men’s Basketball

Drew Richards

Women’s Basketball

Tahnee Balerio (magna cum laude)

Tiffany (Terwelp) Smith (cum laude)

Field Hockey

Whitney Barrett

Heather Koszela

Melissa Millin

Football

Marcus Colbert

Gerald Davis

Chris Geisz (cum laude)

Ryan Kelly

Brady Schwartz

Chris Wash

Women’s Golf

Jillian Anthony

Men’s Soccer

Andy Cooper

Henry Lawrence

Casey Lines

Lance Parker (cum laude)

Omar Shoucair

Women’s Soccer

Megan Beebe

Kate Blair (magna cum laude)

Softball

Ashley Baechle (summa cum laude)

Women’s Swimming/Diving

Amy Crowder (cum laude)

Men’s Track/Cross Country

Casey Collins

Kareem Samuel

Volleyball

Sara Thomas

A total of 1,207 baccalaureate degrees, 354 master’s degrees, four specialist degrees and one doctorate degree were conferred overall by the University. Scholastic honors were given to 38 students who graduated summa cum laude (with a grade point average of 3.9-4.0 on a 4.0 scale), 45 who graduated magna cum laude (with a GPA of 3.75-3.89) and 116 who graduated cum laude (with a GPA of 3.4-3.74).