Five Huskers Earn Degrees

Lincoln - Five Husker soccer players were among a large and talented graduating class of 69 University of Nebraska student-athletes during spring commencement ceremonies Saturday morning at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

A 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America selection, Shay Powell headlined the NU soccer contingent with a degree in pre-law psychology. The Dallas native started 53 of 72 matches the past four years and was Nebraska's goal leader in 2007 and 2008. Powell finished her career with 17 goals and was a three-time First Team Academic All-Big 12 pick.

Joining Powell from the 2009 graduating class was Julie Berkshire, a business administration major from Omaha, Neb. Berkshire was also a four-year letterwinner from 2006-09 and ended her career with a spot on the First Team Academic-All-Big 12 squad.

A pair of Huskers who finished their careers in 2008 also walked across the Devaney Center stage in Lindsay Poehling and Shannon Dickerson. Poehling started all 20 matches as a senior and was a three-time First-Team Academic All-Big 12 selection and three-year letterwinner from 2006-2008. Dickerson lettered twice (2006, 2008) and was a six-time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll member, but her athletic career was cut short due to injuries.

With one year of eligibility remaining, current Husker Tara Macdonald earned her undergraduate degree as a sociology major. Macdonald started 11 matches for the Huskers last fall after transferring to NU from Oklahoma in 2008. The Austin, Texas native will contend for the starting spot again this fall.

Nebraska Senior Associate Athletic Director for Academics Dennis Leblanc said the May 2010 graduating class consists of strong examples of student-athletes who have the ability to excel in the classroom, in the community and in competition.

"This class of Nebraska student-athlete graduates is one of our largest and most accomplished in recent years," Leblanc said. "I also think it is one of our most diverse and well-balanced. I commend each one of these student-athletes for the way they have balanced classwork with competition. They have represented Nebraska at the highest level in academics and athletics.  The athletic department, the University and the state of Nebraska should be proud."            

The spring graduating class of 69 is added to the December class of 35 graduates to bring the total number of Husker student-athletes graduating during the 2009-10 academic year to 104 before summer commencement exercises in August.  Nebraska continues to feature one of the highest graduation rates in the nation with an exhausted eligibility graduation rate of 94 percent, while leading the nation in the number of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans and NCAA Top Eight Award winners across all sports.

May 2010 Nebraska Soccer Student-Athlete Graduates
Student-Athlete (Major) - Hometown
Berkshire, Julie (Business Administration) - Omaha, Neb.
Dickerson, Shannon (Marketing) - Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Macdonald, Tara (Sociology) - Austin, Texas
Poehling, Lindsay (Business Administration) - Elkhorn, Neb.
Powell, Shay (Psychology) - Dallas, Texas