SAN FRANCISCO – Culminating their experience as student-athletes at Academy of Art University, a total of 44 Urban Knights walked the commencement stage to receive their degrees at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on May 22-23. A diverse collection of talented individuals from 14 different fields of study composed the Class of 2019 who joined the growing alumni contingent from the only art school in the NCAA.

Baseball led with its largest total to date, graduating 12 student-athletes followed by six from men's track & field/cross country. Men's soccer added five graduates while softball, men's basketball, and women's soccer had four apiece. Women's track & field/cross country had a trio and duos came from women's basketball and volleyball then lone individuals represented men's and women's golf.

Absent from the ceremony as he was competing in the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in Texas, men's track & field sprinter Mobolade Ajomale (Communications & Media Technologies) graduated while simultaneously becoming a 10-time National Champion and 20-time All-American. A bronze medalist at the 2016 Olympic Games, Ajomale completed his legendary career as a two-time NCAA Division II National Track Athlete of the Year (Indoor 2017, Outdoor 2018), six-time DII West Region Track Athlete of the Year, four-time PacWest Track Athlete of the Meet and the PacWest Male Athlete of the Year in 2018. He ended with his name atop eight different event categories in the ART U record books.

All teammates to Ajomale at one point in their respective careers, men's cross country/track & field grad students Freddie Hessian (Graphic Design), Victor Moreau (Communications & Media Technologies), and Joshua Thorson (Industrial Design) along with Brett Bermudez (Animation & Visual Effects) and Jarred Gregory-Grimes (Writing for Film, Television, & Digital Media) earned their degrees as well. Three of those five were contributing members to the Urban Knights' historic 2016 run to an 11th place finish at NCAA DII Nationals while Hessian and Moreau were both key leaders for ART U over the past two seasons. Like Ajomale, Moreau could not attend commencement due to Outdoor Nationals where he became an All-American in the 1500m.

"I met great people and made great progress so I can only be thankful," said Moreau. "I'd like to thank my former coach Torrey Olson for the opportunity and Steve Fuelling for his open mind with the work we've been able to do together. A master's degree and two All-American trophies - that was quite a nice adventure here in the United States!"

Members of the first women's cross country team to deliver a team score at NCAA Regionals in 2016, Chandler Johnson (Graphic Design), Jamie Morris (Fine Art), and Justice Hinojosa (Advertising) all reunited in their caps and gowns. In addition to making contributions toward the team scoring at Regionals each year thereafter, the trio could also be spotted at the opening of the 2019 Spring Show.

Making up the largest class in the history of the ART U baseball program were nine members of the School of Communications & Media Technologies, infielders Elijah Smith, Josh Carlin, Brennan Mauchline, catcher Marciano Reichel, outfielder Kyle McGraw, and pitchers Ben Clegg, Ben Kaser, Gonzo Rios, and Angel Mora. Both Smith and Rios had outstanding senior seasons as the former set records in career triples and single-season doubles while the latter tied the single-season record for pitcher wins as a reliever. Outside of Communications & Media Technologies, pitcher Alexander Kuisel was fresh off displaying his Advertising portfolio at Spring Show, infielder Erick Luna emerged from the School of Architecture, and outfielder Cameron Jones completed his time in the School of Music Production & Sound Design for Visual Media.

The men's basketball program produced four graduates with duos from Communications & Media Technologies, guards Kendall Brown and Cole Morgan, as well as Advertising, guard/forward Chris Salas and guard Uchenna Okeneme. Salas, Brown, and Okeneme were three of the team's top four scorers in 2016-17, giving way to Brown and Okeneme as the squad's senior leaders in 2017-18. Those two would share time with Morgan who helped the team make its first postseason appearance and nearly upset Azusa Pacific in the 2019 Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament.

"Walking across the stage, I felt a great amount of happiness that I had just done something so big for my family and made them proud," said Okeneme. "I also felt a little sadness because I was leaving the university that showed me love for four and a half years and all the people who I had met over my course of time here. I'll always remember all the great times that I had with my teammates."

Both junior transfers ahead of the 2016-17 season, women's basketball had guard Hayley Pryor and forward Helena Orts depart now as alumni. Serving as a particularly reliable tandem, Pryor and Orts saw action in a combined 111 of 112 games. Both were also particularly strong in the classroom, each earning D2ADA Academic Achievement Awards on two occasions. Additionally, the pair helped the department as event staff in 2018-19.

A quartet came from softball with infielder Brenna Youngquist (Acting), pitcher/utility Brenna Mitchell (Interior Architecture & Design), outfielder Mariah Latham (Interior Architecture & Design), and utility Ariel Ajimura (Motion Pictures & Television) all completing their degrees. Youngquist and Mitchell, dual four-year graduates, both made major contributions toward the Urban Knights' first postseason appearance and a 40-win season in 2018. Youngquist would close out her senior year strong, breaking the program's career records in both home runs and walks.

Proudly representing the men's golf program, Lawrence Liang (Advertising) officially became an alumni after signing off on a memorable senior season. Following a junior year that saw him become the first player in program history named a Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-American Scholar, Liang was a consistent contributor to what became the Urban Knights' best campaign to date in 2019. He would finish on the All-PacWest Third Team, doing so while maintaining the highest GPA (3.87) of all ART U male student-athletes and working on projects nominated for advertising awards.

Women's golf also had one graduate as Sterling Hawkins (Communications & Media Technologies) closed out an impressive career. The 2017 PacWest Golfer of the Year earned two individual tournament victories in that season alone, was All-PacWest Team three times in her career, and was PacWest Golfer of the Week on six occasions. A four-year Academic All-PacWest honoree as well, Hawkins became just the second player in program history to reach NCAA Nationals in 2016.

Fresh off breaking the program's career records in both block assists and total blocks this past season, outside hitter Safua Elisaia (Graphic Design) joined former teammate and outside hitter Sydney Koehler (Fashion Styling) in donning a cap and gown this spring.

Men's soccer had five graduates with pairs from Web Design & New Media, midfielder David Sigurdarson and defender Connor Henrichs, and Communications & Media Technologies, defender Christian "Tate" Sprague and midfielder Jonny Navarro, joining Graphic Design's Mathayo Huma and Industrial Design's Jón Jóhannesson. This past senior year saw Henrichs break the program's career records in both matches and minutes played after he competed in an incredible 71 of 72 matches. Meanwhile, after Henrichs joined Johannesson in the 2018 Spring Show, Henrichs and Sigurdarson repeated appearances this past May.

From women's soccer, midfielder Silvia Fernstrom (Interior Architecture & Design) and goalkeeper Morgan Wirz (Graphic Design) both walked after contributing to the program's winningest season last fall. Fernstrom remained a fixture in the lineup throughout her career, playing in 67 of 72 matches, in addition to scoring two goals (one game-winner) in 2018. Wirz led the team in saves for the third consecutive season, closing out her career with the second-most saves, goalie wins, and shutouts in program history.

"I honestly finally felt a weight lifted off my shoulders," said Wirz. "Completing a degree in graphic design in our school starting as a true freshman was a bit of a challenge for me, but I'm so happy that I got the opportunity to compete in soccer during the madness because that definitely kept me grounded."

Joining the team's leaders from this past year were a pair of 2017 standouts, goalkeeper Maggie Alikpala-Wilson (Animation & Visual Effects) and midfielder Abigail Chavez (Music Production & Sound Design for Visual Media), as well. Alikpala-Wilson had the team's best goals against average and played the most minutes in goal for ART U as a senior while Chavez led the team in goals and points in her final collegiate campaign. Chavez went on to suit up for the Urban Knights women's basketball team for four games and both would assist the athletics department as event staff in 2018-19.

This Class of 2019 enters their respective industries with sophisticated portfolios as the Academy of Art University Athletics Department continues to celebrate its student-athletes' academic successes along with their athletic accomplishments.