The University of Dayton held its undergraduate commencement this Sunday, May 5 in UD Arena.

Dayton athletics has experienced much success during the tenure of this senior class; both academically and athletically.

Some of the athletic accomplishments of this senior class include:
-    12 NCAA Tournament appearances
-    17 Atlantic 10 team championships in the last four years
-    Several A-10 Track and Field Individual Champions
-    2 Pioneer Football League Titles
-    1 U.S. Amateur Qualifier (men’s golfer Sean Keating)

The academic numbers are just as impressive:
- Dayton is among the nation’s best in graduating its student-athletes. UD’s 94 GSR in this year’s report places the University tied for 27th in the nation and tied for second in the Atlantic 10.

- Dayton is one of just four institutions whose men’s and women’s basketball programs have perfect GSR numbers and both won at least 20 games in each of the last two seasons.  That exclusive club’s membership consists of Dayton, Duke, Notre Dame and Princeton.

-  15 of UD’s 16 teams performed above the APR national average in their respective sport. Seven Flyer teams earned perfect APR scores in the latest report.

- UD men’s and women’s golf, women’s basketball, volleyball, women’s cross country, women’s rowing and women’s tennis each have the top APR in their sport in their respective conferences, while two more – men’s basketball and football – have the second best.

-  Following the Fall 2012 semester, UD student-athletes had a combined cumulative grade point average of 3.205 and 15 of 16 programs had a team GPA of 3.0 or higher. 14 student-athletes earned a 4.0 GPA during the Fall term and 154 were named to the Dean’s List.

On top of those accomplishments, these student-athletes have also done thousands of hours of community service in the Dayton area.

After four years at making an impact at UD, this senior class will now embark on their own journeys following graduation. Below are just some of the spring grads’ future plans, which include furthering their playing career, attending grad school and getting right into their field of study:

Baseball
Jared Broughton – pursuing a career of coaching college baseball
Trent Haughn – taking a summer internship with POET Biorefinery in Leipsic, Ohio and then attend the University of Northwestern Ohio for his MBA. He will also be on UNOH's bowling team
Ian Hundley  –  working at Fifth Third Bank in the Investment Advising Leadership Program in downtown Cincinnati
Jim Hurt – attending law school to become an NCAA compliance officer
Parker Schrage –  pursuing opportunity to play professional baseball in Canada

Men’s Basketball
Josh Benson – planning on continuing his playing career
Kevin Dillard – planning on continuing his playing career

Women’s Basketball
Olivia Applewhite  – planning on playing overseas
Sam MacKay – signed training camp contract with Seattle Storm of the WNBA
Brittany Wilson – working as a clinical substance abuse counselor

Men’s Cross Country
Jeremy Schiele – accepted to work as a scribe at a network of hospitals in Milwaukee, and studying for the MCAT

Football
Phil DeBoer – working in the business field in Chicago
Owen Elger  – engineer for Whirlpool in Oklahoma
Taylor Harris – engineer in construction in Cincinnati
Matt Pfleger – working as loan officer in Cincinnati
Robert Strong – engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Men's Golf
Sean Keating – currently in grad school at UD, studying accounting

Women's Golf
Kelly Coakley  – working for Johnson Controls as a sales account executive in Milwaukee, Wisc.

Rowing
Ali Girten – attending grad school for dietetics at Loyola of Chicago
Lauren Jabir – teaching third grade at Dayton Early College Academy

Men’s Soccer
Daniel Berko –  trying out for the Michigan Bucks of the PDL
Evan McCreary – ocean life-guarding job in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Women’s Soccer
Katherine Boone – attending grad school in Seattle
Alexis Garcia – accepted into exercise physiology/adult fitness graduate program at Akron and intends to become a cardiac rehab specialist
Alysha Mallon  –  IT Recruiter for Tech Systems in Baltimore
Colleen Williams  –  playing professionally for the Washington Spirit of the NWSL

Softball
Leah Sitter – studying for master's degree in industrial organizational psychology at Walden University
Carlyn Harlow – working as a civil engineer at APEX Engineering PLLC in Tacoma, Wash.
Kathleen Maloof – working as a staff auditor at BKD CPAs and Advisors (public accounting firm) in Indianapolis
Sydney Cicchetti – attending the University of British Columbia for post-secondary education program

Men’s Tennis
Robert Salcedo – working at a mortgage company in Cincinnati

Women’s Track and Field
Taylor Beyerle – teaching in the greater Dayton area as an intervention specialist and getting married in June
Renee Otte – taking part in the UD five-year bachelor’s plus master’s program through the engineering school.  Has an internship this summer with Crown Equipment Corporation in New Bremen, Ohio until she starts grad school at UD in the fall for mechanical engineering, with a focus on design and manufacturing
Marisa Slomski – working at Camp Joy in Clarksville, Ohio this summer with inner city and medically-impaired children helping to build relationships and self-esteem.

Volleyball
Rachel Krabacher  – playing professionally in Europe; has signed a professional contract
Samantha Selsky  – working with University of Dayton volleyball program
Paige Vargas – teaching