BELLINGHAM, Wash. - A total of 26 Western Washington University student-athletes will receive their diplomas on Saturday, June 11 during commencement at Civic Stadium in Bellingham.

The group of graduates includes several All-American, All-GNAC and all-academic performers amongst them. The group of Vikings were also contributors to the Vikings winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Sports Trophy in each of the last eight years.

Amongst the WWU student-athletes who will receive their diploma include 2015-16 GNAC Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year Kayla Bernsen (Moses Lake, WA), All-American sprinter Alex Donigian (Mission Viejo, CA/Trabuco Hills/Saddleback JC/Northern Colorado), All-American cross country runner Taylor Guenther (Vancouver, WA/Prairie), All-American rower Katya Hewitt (Bellingham, WA), basketball standout Kyle Impero (Everson, WA/Nooksack Valley/Whatcom CC), volleyball players Jennica McPherson (Seattle, WA/Kennedy) and Rachel Roeder (Sammamish, WA/Issaquah), soccer standouts Catherine Miles (Anacortes, WA) and Delanee Nilles (Poulsbo, WA/North Kitsap), javelin All-American Katie Reichert (Longview, WA/Kelso) and softball team leader Jordan Walley (Maple Valley, WA/Tahoma). Former men's basketball player Anye Turner (Olympia, WA/Black Hills/South Puget Sound CC) will also receive his diploma after finishing this studies this year.

"We pride ourselves on the student-athlete experience at WWU and could not be any prouder of our graduates," said WWU Director of Athletics Steve Card. "They not only consistently excel at the highest level on the field of competition, but have been model students and represented our University at the highest levels. We look forward to seeing them enter the post-college world and find success like they did as a Viking."

WWU recently finished in the top 50 in the Directors' Cup Standings for the 13th consecutive year and placed inside the top 30 for the eighth time. While having success in competition, WWU student-athletes continued to be outstanding in the classroom. Using the NCAA Academic Success Rate, WWU was at 87 percent, 14 percentage points better than the NCAA II national number of 73 percent.

Commencement ceremonies will be held at Civic Stadium in Bellingham at 9 am and 1:30 pm. More information on the ceremonies, including parking information, can be found on the WWU website.

2015-16 Graduating WWU Student-Athletes:

• Arianna Barrio (Softball)
• Lauren Bennett (Softball)
• Kayla Bernsen (Women's Basketball)
• Jessica Bertucci (Women's Soccer)
• Dylan Brown (Track & Field)
• Taylor Clark (Softball)
• Alex Donigian (Track & Field)
• Kristin Foster (Rowing)
• Taylor Guenther (Track & Field and Cross Country)
• Stephanie Hamilton (Women's Soccer)
• Holly Hawkins (Softball)
• Miranda Head (Women's Soccer)
• Katya Hewitt (Rowing)
• Kyle Impero (Men's Basketball)
• Madeline Jalbert (Cross Country and Track & Field)
• Kali Klotz-Brooks (Track & Field)
• Jennica McPherson (Volleyball)
• Catherine Miles (Women's Soccer)
• Megan Mortensen (Track & Field)
• Delanee Nilles (Women's Soccer)
• Ryan Peterson (Cross Country and Track & Field)
• Katie Reichert (Track & Field)
• Noah Ripley (Track & Field)
• Rachel Roeder (Volleyball)
• Anye Turner (Men's Basketball)
• Jordan Walley (Softball)

Please note this list may have some names left off on accident, as the registrar's office provided the above names of the graduates. Any additions/changes that need to be corrected can be sent to WWUSportsInfo(at)yahoo.com. Some student-athletes may also be graduating after the summer or Fall 2016 quarter