July 31, 2014

SPRINGFIELD - A total of 15 current and former Missouri State University student-athletes will receive their degrees Friday, Aug. 1 during summer commencement ceremonies at JQH Arena on the Springfield campus.

The athletes represent seven different sports with volleyball standout Kaitlin Jaeger earning magna cum laude (3.75-3.89 GPA) academic honors. Three students - football player Matt Swan, volleyball player Kayla Walton and track runner Katelynn Geier - are completed post-graduate degrees.

The August 2014 class represents MSU's largest crop of summer graduates since 2007. During the 2013-14 academic year, a total of 94 Bear student-athletes earned degrees, including 60 in the spring 2014 commencement.

By sport, here are the student-athletes completing their degrees in August 2014:

• Football (7): Ryan Callender (Sport & Park Administration); Jordan Eversley (Hospitality & Restaurant Administration); Spencer Emerson (Sociology); Johnny Onoh (Accounting); Jeremiah Plowden (Criminology); Howard Scarborough (Sport & Park Administration), Matt Swan (Business Administration, MBA).
• Field Hockey (2): Hillary Lawless (Hospitality & Restaurant Administration); Meagen Good (Anthropology).
• Volleyball (2): Kaitlin Jaeger (Political Science); Kayla Walton (Sports Management, M.S.)
• Baseball (1): Tyler Burgess (General Business).
• Men's Golf (1): Nick Langley (Criminology).
• Softball (1): Ashley Brentz (Psychology).
• Track & Field (1): Katelynn Geier (Health & Wellness Management, M.S.)

Missouri State University will confer a total of 560 degrees to students at summer commencement. Friday's ceremony will begin at 10 a.m., and will feature an address from Jim Anderson, Missouri State alum and vice president of marketing and public affairs at CoxHealth. A total of 304 bachelor's degrees, 247 master's degrees, four specialist degrees and five doctorate degrees will be conferred.

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