CHARLESTON, S.C. – Fifty-four current and former student-athletes and nine members of athletic department support groups participated in College of Charleston May Commencement.
 
A tradition unlike many other colleges and universities, CofC students who complete their undergraduate degrees do not wear robes or caps for the spring commencement ceremony. Instead, women don white dresses and men wear white dinner jackets. For decades, this annual tradition has taken place in front of The College's oldest building, Randolph Hall, with ancient live oak trees draped with Spanish moss setting the stage. Saturday ceremonies were moved inside to TD Arena due to inclement weather in the Lowcountry.
 
This year's scholar athletes included arts management, historic preservation and community planning, elementary education, public health, middle grades education, early childhood education, accounting, business administration, economics, finance, international business, marketing, biology, geology, communication, political science and psychology majors.
 
The diverse group also hailed from 17 different states as far out west as California to the Bluegrass State of Kentucky to the northeastern shores of Maine as well as eight countries that included Canada, Cyprus, Chile, France, Germany, Guatemala, Russia and Trinidad & Tobago.
 
Eleven student-athletes in the Class of 2017 graduated with honors including J. Stewart Walker Cup Award nominee Cara Butcher (North Massapequa, N.Y.) of women's cross country/track & field, who graduated at the top of her class, summa cum laude, with a 3.9-or-better grade-point average. Vici Drechsler (Munich, Germany) and Laura Fuenfstueck (Langen, Germany) of women's golf also graduated summa cum laude from the CofC School of Business.
 
Those graduating magna cum laude (3.750-3.899 GPA) were Mara Argyriou (Limassol, Cyprus) of women's tennis, Julie Barton (Colbert, Ga.) of equestrian and Jamie Craven (Miami, Fla.) of offshore sailing. Barton, who was selected as senior class representative speaker at commencement, was one of two CofC Honors College graduates along with Craven.
 
Two former student-athletes also earned their master's degrees in James Bourne (Alexandria, Va.) of men's basketball in business administration and Alex Wood (Duncan, S.C.) of men's swimming & diving in accountancy.
 
Overall, the Class of 2017 produced one Olympian in Enrique Arathoon (Guatemala City, Guatemala) of sailing and four Colonial Athletic Association individual champions in Laura Fuenfstueck (Langen, Germany) of women's golf, William Rainey (Charlotte, N.C.) of men's golf, high jumper Julisa Tindall (Rock Hill, S.C.) of women's track & field and Parker Derby (Columbus, Ga.) of men's golf.
 
After qualifying for the Olympics at the 2015 Pan American Games, Arathoon placed 24th overall in the Men's Laser Class last summer in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Tindall became the first Cougar to compete at the USA Track & Field Senior Outdoor Championships in 2015, while Rainey and Fuenfstueck were tabbed CAA Men's and Women's Golfers of the Year and became the first golfers in both program's history to advance to the national championship as an individual. Rainey and Chloe Dapp (Newport Beach, Calif.) of sailing earned Honorable Mention All-American status during their four-year careers at The College.
 
Brenna Bolden (Edgewater, Md.) of women's basketball closed out her four-year career as the program's all-time leading scorer and a three-time CAA Defensive Player of the Year honoree, while Victoria Bauer (Santa Clarita, Calif.) of equestrian was the 2016 reserve national champion in individual open flat and was the recipient of the Cacchione Cup – given to the top collegiate rider in the nation.
 
All benefited from the academic support and guidance from the CofC Student-Athlete Academic Services (SAAS) staff headed up by director Kate Tiller, associate director Keri McGee and assistant director J.B. Weber.
 
"The SAAS staff is beyond proud to see our student-athletes graduate this weekend," Tiller said. "We have the pleasure of working with our student-athletes from orientation to graduation, so we can attest that they have grown and flourished as they carried out the commitment they made to earn their degrees while representing the College of Charleston athletically.

"We are grateful for the lessons they have taught us and sincerely believe that they will take the lessons they have learned from their experience at The College into their very bright futures."

The majority of CofC's graduating student-athletes have also benefited from scholarship funding throughout their academic and athletic careers provided by The Cougar Club, the athletic department's fundraising arm. If you would like to become a member to help continue to support student-athlete scholarships, please contact The Cougar Club at: (843) 953-8255.
 
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON ATHLETICS MAY 2017 GRADUATES (in alphabetical order by last name)
Irene Abascal, Sailing, Guatemala City, Guatemala, Finance, Cum Laude
Kayla Adelman, Sailing, Falmouth, Maine, International Business
Enrique Arathoon, Sailing, Guatemala City, Guatemala, International Business
Mara Argyriou, Women's Tennis, Limassol, Cyprus, Exercise Science, Magna Cum Laude
Julie Barton, Equestrian, Colbert, Ga., Honors College, Public Health, Magna Cum Laude
Victoria Bauer, Equestrian, Santa Clarita, Calif., Business Administration
Noah Blacker, Offshore Sailing, St. Petersburg, Fla., Economics/Finance
Sarah Blakely, Women's Soccer, Charleston, S.C., Exercise Science
Breanna Bolden, Women's Basketball, Edgewater, Md., Public Health
James Bourne, Men's Basketball, Alexandria, Va., Master of Business Administration
Mary Chandler Bryan, Women's Golf, Chapin, S.C., Business Administration
Mary Kate Brelsford, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field, Ocean City, N.J., Marketing
Cara Butcher, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field, North Massapequa, N.Y., Elementary Education, Summa Cum Laude
Carlee Cassidy, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field, Lindsay, Ontario, Canada, Physical Education
Alex Coyle, Women's Track & Field, Corunna, Ontario, Canada, Exercise Science
Jamie Craven, Offshore Sailing, Miami, Fla., Honors College, Political Science/Psychology, Magna Cum Laude
Jack Cusick, Sailing, Fairfield, Conn., Finance
Chloe Dapp, Sailing, Newport Beach, Calif., Political Science
Bayley Davidson, Sailing, Newport Beach, Calif., Business Administration/Hospitality & Tourism Management
Parker Derby, Men's Golf, Columbus, Ga., Arts Management
Vici Drechsler, Women's Golf, Munich, Germany, Finance/Economics, Summa Cum Laude
Rodrigo Encinas, Men's Tennis, Santiago, Chile, Biology
Liza Fieldsend, Women's Tennis, New Braunfels, Texas, Marketing, Cum Laude
Laura Fuenfstueck, Women's Golf, Langen, Germany, Finance, Summa Cum Laude
Courtney Gardner, Women's Basketball, Snellville, Ga., Exercise Science
Erik Goldbach, Men's Basketball, Lancaster, Pa., Communication
Alexa Gray, Women's Soccer, Butler, Pa., Marketing
Nola Henry, Women's Basketball, Willingboro, N.J., Sociology
Maddie Hills, Volleyball/Beach Volleyball, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Exercise Science, Cum Laude
Dana Horgan, Softball, Fayetteville, Ga., Public Health
Kashmir Huckaby, Softball, Redlands, Calif., Sociology
Payton Hulsey, Men's Basketball, Memphis, Tenn., Business Administration
Nicolas Jeausseran, Men's Soccer, Villeneuve Loubet, France, Sociology
Vasily Kichigin, Men's Tennis, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Business Administration
Brian Kilgallon, Men's Soccer, Boca Raton, Fla., Business Administration
Lauren Killian, Women's Soccer, Blythewood, S.C., Public Health
Matthew Mahle, Men's Golf, Lexington, Ky., Accounting
Samantha Martin, Softball, Tallahassee, Fla., Historic Preservation & Community Planning
Howie Meyers, Offshore Sailing, Bellport, N.Y., Geology
Riley Narum, Women's Soccer, Clearwater, Fla., Biology
Terrance O'Donohue, Men's Basketball, Norcross, Ga., Sociology
Philip Oweida, Men's Golf, Charlotte, N.C., Business Administration
Katie Padilla, Softball, Corona, Calif., Sociology
Julia Petruch, Women's Track & Field, Colts Neck, N.J., Middle Grades Education
William Rainey, Men's Golf, Charlotte, N.C., Sociology
Ereven Roper, Baseball, Easley, S.C., Business Administration
Sydney Shipley, Softball, Pinole, Calif., Sociology
Joseph Terry, Men's Soccer, Charleston, S.C., Sociology
Josh Tierney, Men's Cross Country, Bluffton, S.C., Exercise Science, Cum Laude
Julisa Tindall, Women's Track & Field, Rock Hill, S.C., Psychology, Cum Laude
Andrew Tyler, Men's Cross Country, Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Business Administration
Suzi Vallez, Women's Soccer, Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Early Childhood Education
Kye West, Men's Soccer, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, Public Health
Alex Wood, Men's Swimming & Diving, Duncan, S.C., Master of Science of Accountancy
 
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON ATHLETICS SUPPORT GROUPS
Jennifer Baehr, SAAS Study Hall Monitor, Master of Science in Historic Preservation
Courtney Birch, Athletic Training, Harwich, Mass., Athletic Training/Exercise Science, Cum Laude
Isabel Duane, Cheer, Elementary Education, Magna Cum Laude
Marshelle McCoy, Athletic Training, Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Athletic Training
Carson McGinn, Athletic Training and Exercise Science
Hayley Meyer, Athletic Training
Leah Roch, Athletic Training, North Kingstown, R.I., Athletic Training/Exercise Science
Chelsea Stevens, Dance, Niantic, Conn., Public Health, Magna Cum Laude
Sam Streett, Athletic Training, St. Louis, Mo., Athletic Training/Exercise Science