SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Sixty-one student-athletes were honored at the annual President's Luncheon for Scholar Athletes for achieving a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.5. Student athlete honorees invited faculty members as their guests and all were treated to a luncheon hosted by President Harris.

“The University of San Diego is one of the nation’s finest Catholic institutions,” Ron Valenzuela said, USD’s Assistant AD for Academics and Student Athlete Services. “USD represents the absolute best of intercollegiate athletics and college sports and the President’s Luncheon for Scholar Athletes recognizes the outstanding academic achievements of student athletes. Honorees must possess at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average based on the most recent term and have completed at least two full-time semesters at USD.  These student athletes have the competitive desire to be the best students they can be and have shown extraordinary academic success by accepting the challenge to become leaders in the classroom.”

USD's Faculty Athletic Representative Dr. Mitch Malachowski from the Chemistry Department addressed the crowd in opening remarks. Dr. Malachowski challenged student athletes to find the perfect components to build team chemistry.

Senior Marta Stojanovic of the women’s tennis team then gave a short speech to the group. Stojanovic, who has a perfect 4.0 GPA as behavioral neuroscience major, will represent the College of Arts & Sciences as their valedictorian.

Each scholar athlete was then presented a certificate of academic excellence and achievement by their head coach. The program ended with closing remarks from President Harris, who stressed the impact coaches and faculty members have on student-athletes.

“The two lessons I’ve learned from these two groups of individuals during my career and in my life is knowing how hard they work and how well they balance their life to accomplish so many things,” Harris remarked.

“Student-athletes, you are exemplars. You’re fantastic and we’re so proud of what you’re doing, but you only have to look at the people at the table with you, professors and coaches, and continue to be inspired and continue to lead our university to even greater heights.”

Below is a complete list of the 61 recipients

FOOTBALL

Devyn Bryant – Junior, Mechanical Engineering major

Anthony Lawrence – Sophomore, Accountancy major

Tyler Marshall – Sophomore, Finance major

Max Michaels – Junior, Accountancy major

Alec Moreno – Junior, Accountancy major

Connor Spencer – Sophomore, Electrical Engineering major

Luke Taffuri – Junior, Accountancy and Finance major

VOLLEYBALL

Alaysia Brown – Fall Graduate, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

Kristen Gengenbacher – Sophomore, Communication Studies major

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Jacey Birtcher – Senior, Marketing major

Michelle Craft – Senior, Biology major

Caitlyn Kretzschmar – Junior, Political Science major

Julia Sherwood – Junior, English and Philosophy (double major)

MEN’S SOCCER

Alex Stimpfl – Senior, Accountancy major

Michael Thilenius – Junior, Mechanical Engineering major

Patrick Zimmer – Senior, Marketing major

MEN’S AND WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Matthew Beasley – Junior, Finance major    

Liam Burke – Sophomore, Anthropology major

Tyler Hodges – Sophomore, Accountancy major

Spencer Hoffman – Junior, Accountancy major

Shannan Conlon – Sophomore, International Relations and Spanish (double major)

Julie Giannini – Sophomore, Biology major

Olivia Gonzalez – Junior, Communication Studies and Economics double major

Olivia Houser – Senior, Accountancy major

Sarah Kapple, Junior, Electrical Engineering major

Dani LeMieux – Junior, Biology major

Sam Mattice – Sophomore, Communication Studies major

Ashton Padberg – Junior, International Business major

Kalin Padberg – Junior, International Business major

Alex Salazar – Sophomore, Undeclared

Hannah Talpash – Not in Attendance and Studying Abroad this spring,

Mary Tenuta – Sophomore, Biology major

SWIMMING & DIVING

Missy Beall – Junior, Electrical Engineering major

Danielle Deiparine – Junior, Biology major

Stephanie Jones – Senior, Biology major

Christina Jonsson – Junior, Marketing major

Claire Tolan – Junior, Marketing major

Gwen Walter – Junior, Real Estate and Finance (double major)

SOFTBALL

Lauren King – Junior, Marketing major

Danielle Mavridis – Senior, Mechanical Engineering major

Olivia Sandusky – Junior, English major

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Caroline Buhr – Sophomore, Finance major

Jamie Kissinger – Sophomore, Accountancy major

Edi Utibe – Junior, Communication Studies major

Sydney Williams – Sophomore, Behavioral Neuroscience major

Alex Young – Junior, Communication Studies major

MEN’S TENNIS

Andrew Carlisle – Graduate Student, Master of Science in Finance

MEN’S ROWING

William Carhart – Sophomore, Engineering major

Pierce Salamack – Junior, Electrical Engineering

Nick Watson – Junior, Mechanical Engineering major

WOMEN’S ROWING

Megan Goodman – Junior, International Relations and Spanish double major

Meredith Hoggatt – Junior, Mechanical Engineering major

Morgan Lester – Junior, Finance major

Megan McNamara – Senior, Psychology and Communication Studies (double major)

Hannah Saddler – Senior, Physics major

Karli Wittenberg – Junior, Biochemistry major

McKenna Wray – Senior, Accountancy and Finance (double major)

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Marisa Marsh – Senior, Real Estate major

Drew Spinosa – Sophomore, Accountancy major

Marta Stojanovic – Senior, Behavioral Neuroscience major