FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The University of Alaska Fairbanks held its 97th commencement ceremony over the weekend, honoring the Class of 2019 at the Carlson Center on Saturday, May 4. Overall, the university recognized over 1,400 graduates for their successes with over 600 students walking across the stage on Saturday, including 32 student-athletes.

Alaska's 32 graduating student-athletes included 12 former Nooks and 20 athletes who competed in the Blue and Gold throughout the 2018-19 season. The number is up four from last year's commencement, which saw 28 student-athletes walk across the stage. Of the Alaska Nanooks' 32 student-athletes, 17 were female, 15 were male and four received master's degrees.

Each of Alaska's 10 varsity sports teams were represented on Saturday, led by women's swimming, who had six graduates.

The commencement ceremony was highlighted by six student-athletes graduating with honors. Women's cross country running's Alex Bergholtz and women's basketball's Marian Wamsley earned magna cum laude honors (3.75-3.8 GPA), while Martha Hood (swimming), Cassidy Kelly (swimming), Nikolas Koberstein (hockey) and Tristan Sayre (men's cross country running and Nordic ski) graduated cum laude (3.5-3.74 GPA).

The Class of 2019 featured rifle's JT Schnering, who was named the Alaska Nanooks' 2019 Most Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year. Additionally, Bergholtz and Nordic skiing's Seiji Takagi were named the Nanook Athletic Advisory Committee's 2019 Female and Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, respectively.

Of the 32 graduates, three were selected as the Dr. William Wood Scholar-Athlete award winners for their respective teams, including Bergholtz (women's cross country), Arnaud Guyon (men's Nordic ski) and Koberstein (hockey).

The full list of Alaska's 32 student-athletes who graduated on Saturday are listed below by school:

College of Engineering & Mines
Alyson McPhetres Mathers (women's cross country) – M.S. Civil Engineering
Bangaly Kaba (men's basketball) – B.S. Petroleum Engineering
Tristan Sayre (men's cross country & Nordic ski) – B.S. Civil Engineering, cum laude

College of Liberal Arts
Emily Evans (women's basketball) – B.S. Psychology
Arnaud Guyon (men's cross country & Nordic ski) – B.A. Communication
Cassidy Heaton (swimming) – B.A. Art
Martha Hood (swimming) – B.A. Psychology/Justice, cum laude
Ariana Horner (volleyball) – B.M. Music Education: Music Education K-12
Cassidy Kelly (swimming) – B.A. Psychology, cum laude
Joe Lendway (men's basketball) – B.A. Justice
Tayler Munson (hockey) – B.A. Communication
Nga Nguyen (swimming) – B.A. Psychology
Riley Podowicz (volleyball) – B.A. Justice
Anthony Reese (men's basketball) – B.A. Justice
Kati Roivas (women's cross country & Nordic ski) – B.A. Psychology
JT Schnering (rifle) – B.S. Psychology
Chad Staley (hockey) – B.A. Psychology
Seiji Takagi (men's Nordic ski) – B.S. Psychology
Marian Wamsley (women's basketball) – B.A. Psychology, magna cum laude

College of Natural Science & Mathematics
Alex Bergholtz (women's cross country) – B.A. Chemistry, magna cum laude
Jocelyn Kopsack (women's cross country) – B.S. Mathematics
Kate Mathews (swimming) – B.A. Biological Sciences
Nathan Taylor (rifle) – B.S. Biological Sciences: Physiology

School of Education
Sam Hesterman (volleyball) – Dual M.Ed.

School of Management
Alex Carpenter (women's basketball) – MBA: General Management
Cassi Williams (women's basketball) – MBA: General Management
Sierra Kinworthy (swimming) – B.B.A. Business Administration: General Management
Nikolas Koberstein (hockey) – B.B.A. Business Administration: General Management, cum laude
Ryker Leer (hockey) – B.B.A. Business Administration: Finance
Derritt Scarver (men's basketball) – B.B.A. Business Administration: Marketing
Jack Weiss (hockey) – B.B.A. Business Administration: Sports Management

School of Natural Resources & Extension
Robert Scott (rifle) – B.S. Natural Resources Management

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks, follow @AlaskaNanooks on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks page on Facebook.