PRINCESS ANNE, Md. -- On May 15, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) watched over 450 students receive their degrees after listening to an inspiring speech from guest speaker Dr. Gregory L. Parham, Assistant Secretary of Administration for the United States Department of Agriculture. Among the graduates, several current and former student-athletes were being recognized for their academic accomplishments.

From the UMES School of Graduate Studies, Jasmine Blanton, a UMES Women's Basketball graduate assistant coach, received her Master of Science in Criminology & Criminal Justice.

During the graduation ceremonies, 13 student-athletes graduated with honors. Baseball's Jordan Bone (Pittston, Pa.), Nick Cooper (Delmar, Del.), Zach Townsend (Salisbury, Md.), Men's Basketball's Ishaq Pitt (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Bowling's Mariana Alvarado (Leon, Mexico) and Tatiana Munoz (Ibague Tolima, Colombia), Track & Field's Nancy Yao (Riverdale, Md.), and Women's Tennis' Reine Fowajuh (Wilmington, Del.) each graduated Summa Cum Laude after cumulating a grade-point-average of 3.700 to 4.000.

Women's Basketball's Shawnee Sweeney (Chester, Va.) and Track & Field's Margaret Wilmot-Francis (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) finished between a 3.500 and 3.699 grade-point-average (GPA), earning them Magna Cum Laude.

Others graduated Cum Laude after accumulating between a 3.300 and 3.499 GPA, which included Baseball's Stephen Bull (Millsboro, Del.) and Joshua James (Milford, Del.) and two-sport student-athlete Aleksandra Manolova (Sofia, Bulgaria).

Other student-athletes graduating included: Sedrick Bailey (Baltimore), Zavior Brown (Middletown, N.Y.), Michael Epps (Pottstown, Pa.), Tim Gray (Camden, Del.), Shantol Hemley (St. Catherine's, Jamaica), Iman Johnson (Milwaukee), Victoria Jones (Baltimore), Jessica Long (Fort Washington, Md.), Mike Myers (Camden, N.J.), Valerie Riggin (Vista, Calif.), Ksenia Sukhareva (Moscow, Russia), Brandy Tankard (Dagsboro, Del.), Rico Taylor (Silver Spring, Md.), Christopher Toney (Manassas, Va.), Travis Trim (Trinidad & Tobago), and Alexis Udoji (Randolph, Mass.).

"We are so proud of all of our student-athletes," said Collene Dean, Assistant Director of Athletics for Academics. "Athletics prides itself on our high graduation rate, the best in the MEAC, and each commencement we can see our successes walk across the stage in their cap and gown with their gray student-athlete stoles around their neck. As the one tasked so oversee academics I am as proud as their families, seeing firsthand their hard work in college being rewarded with a degree."

For complete recaps, results and news of Hawk athletics, please visitwww.umeshawks.com.