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TAMPA, AUG. 4, 2017 – After posting an annual department grade-point average above a 3.0 for the second straight year, USF Athletics congratulates another impressive group of Bulls receiving their degrees this weekend during summer commencement ceremonies at the Sun Dome.
 
The total of 15 projected graduates this summer brings USF Athletics' total up to 106 graduates for the 2016-17 school year. This is the first time USF Athletics has posted a department GPA above a 3.0 for the second straight year and USF finished with a record 86 percent Graduation Success Rate when the latest data was released last November.
 
Among those projected to receive their degrees is USF Football defensive tackle Deadrin Senat, who majored in interdisciplinary social science. Senat (Immokalee, Fla.) helped the Bulls break the school record with 11 wins in 2016 and he's on watch lists for two national awards this season (Nagurski & Outland).
 
All-conference designated hitter Luke Borders (Winter Haven, Fla.) will earn his degree in health sciences after helping the Bulls' 2017 NCAA Regional squad reach the 40-win mark for the first time since 1996.
 
Women's basketball graduate Nancy Warioba (Kenya) is set to receive her degree in health sciences after playing on the 2016-17 team that made its fourth trip to the NCAA tournament in the past five seasons. USF recently received the conference's Academic Excellence Award for having the highest collective GPA among women's basketball teams in the league.
 
Two of three men's soccer graduates, Liam McNally (Wales) and Jason Velasquez (Albuquerque, N.M.), were on last season's team that captured the conference's regular season title and advanced to the NCAA tournament. Women's soccer graduates Trudi Carter (Jamaica), Carlotta Fennefoss (Norway) and Nikki Lauderback (Orlando) helped the Bulls post their fourth consecutive 10-plus win season in 2016.
 
USF Athletics' newest group of graduates will be a part of more than 2,700 University of South Florida System students receiving their degrees during two commencement ceremonies on Saturday. Students from USF's Tampa campus will be awarded approximately 2,470 degrees during the university's 112^th commencement convocation. Commencement ceremonies will take place Saturday at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. inside the Sun Dome.
 
 

Summer 2017 USF Athletics Graduates
Sport	Name
Baseball	Luke Borders
Men's Basketball	Geno Thorpe
Women's Basketball	Nancy Warioba
Cross Country/Track and Field	Michael Babinec
Dance	Danielle Manz
Football	Deadrin Senat
Men's Soccer	Brandon Kolczynski
Men's Soccer	Liam McNally
Men's Soccer	Jason Velasquez
Women's Soccer	Trudi Carter
Women's Soccer	Carlotta Fennefoss
Women's Soccer	Nikki Lauderback
Volleyball	T'Ara Austin
Volleyball	Elyse Panick
Women's Track and Field	Rebecca Evans

 
 
 About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men's and women's teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 competing at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls' athletic program is celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2015, having begun with a men's soccer contest in 1965. Nearly 500 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of Tampa campus. The Bulls have claimed 12 conference titles in four seasons in The American, including four in 2016-17. Ten USF programs reached national post-season competition in the 2016-17 season and nine were ranked in the Top 25 nationally. The Bulls posted a record 86 percent Graduation Success Rate (2016) in the last reporting.