ATHLETICS COMMENCEMENT RECEPTION PHOTO GALLERY
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 14, 2018) – The Northern Arizona Athletics Department celebrated 14 student-athlete graduates at their fall 2018 commencement reception Thursday night at the Health and Learning Center's Green Scene Café.
The 14 department graduates are a mix of fall semester graduates as well as several members of the track & field program who will be competing at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships during the spring 2019 commencement ceremonies in May.
Of the 14 graduates, nine are from the cross country and track & field programs. The football team is graduating three, while the soccer and golf teams each have one graduate.
The graduating class includes school record holders, Big Sky and NCAA National Champions and all-conference performers.
Kyle Havriliak and Harvey Nelson were members of the Lumberjack men's cross country national championship, while there are several members of the women's track & field program that has swept the Big Sky indoor and outdoor championships each of the last two years.
Sierra Bezdicek (golf) also captured a conference championship during her career.
The three football players – Case Cookus, Byron Evans and Cory Young – were also integral members of the 2017 team that earned a berth to the NCAA FCS Playoffs.
The NAU graduates, with numerous Big Sky All-Academic and Golden Eagle Scholar-Athlete awards between them, will take part in Friday's university commencement ceremonies in the Walkup Skydome.
Below is a list of the 14 graduates who were honored this semester in alphabetical order.
Sierra Bezdicek – Golf – Colbert, Wash.
Bezdicek competed in 37 tournaments in four seasons as a member of the NAU golf team, posting a career scoring average of 77.97. She shot her best round of her career with a four-under 68 at the UNLV Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown as a senior. Bezdicek was a member of NAU's 2015 Big Sky Championship team and had a best finish of 16th at the 2016 Big Sky Championship.
Heather Calandra – Track & Field – Cottonwood, Ariz.
Calandra transferred to NAU from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and was a part of the Lumberjacks' Big Sky Champion track & field program. At the 2017 Big Sky Outdoor Championships, Calandra placed 16th in the shot put. Her best career finish came during the same season, in which she placed seventh in the shot put at the Mesa T-Bird Invitational.
Mei-Te Coco – Soccer – Mission Viejo, Calif.
Coco concluded her career with a 2018 All-Big Sky Second Team nod, helping the Lumberjacks to a fourth-place conference finish this fall. Coco played all 18 games this season and started 16, recording one assist and 15 shots. Each of the last two seasons, Coco played in more than 1,000 minutes each. She played in 61 games over four seasons and notched five career goals.
Case Cookus – Football – Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Cookus' name can be found throughout the NAU football record book as he ranks in the top five in passing yards, completions, passing touchdowns and total offense. Cookus, a two-time All-Big Sky First Team selection with three All-American honors to his name, has thrown the third-most touchdowns in program history with 74. He also ranks fifth with 7,968 passing yards, 602 completions and 8,181 yards of total offense.
Byron Evans – Football – Phoenix, Ariz.
Evans spent two seasons at NAU following two seasons at Glendale Community College. He started all 12 games as a senior in 2017, and 16 of 20 games over the course of his two-year career with the Lumberjack football team. Evans, a 2017- All-Big Sky honorable mention honoree, compiled 119 tackles in two seasons and registered 17 tackles in his final game as a Lumberjack in the 2017 FCS playoffs.
Kyle Havriliak – Cross Country/Track & Field – Phoenix, Ariz.
Haviriliak competed in 13 cross country meets and was a member of NAU's three NCAA National Championship teams. Haviriliak placed 20th at the Big Sky Championship meet this fall and posted a 74th place finish at the Mountain Region Championships. On the track, Havriliak has competed in 26 meets to date and last season, set personal-bests in the indoor mile and 3,000m and outdoor steeplechase. Havriliak has also been an active member of the NAU Army ROTC throughout his career and will commission this May as an Infantry Officer.
Jasmine Malone – Track & Field – Chandler, Ariz.
Malone has been a standout performer in the track & field sprint events over the course of her career and is already off to a great start to this indoor season, placing first in three events at the MSU Bobcat Preview. She has won a combined 11 individual and relay conference titles during her first three seasons and has been part of five Big Sky championship teams. Last season, she made her first NCAA appearance at the Indoor National Championships and has twice qualified for the NCAA Outdoor West Preliminaries.
Clarissa Maxey – Track & Field – North Las Vegas, Nev.
Maxey has been a part of three Big Sky gold medal 4x400m relay teams in her career, including the 2016 quartet that broke the school record during the outdoor season. A member of five conference championship teams, Maxey has competed in the 400m dash at the indoor conference championships and 200m and 400m dashes at the outdoor conference championships. This season, she has already placed first with the 4x400m team at the season-opening Bobcat Preview.
Harvey Nelson – Cross Country/Track & Field – Tucson, Ariz.
Nelson competed during NAU's 2016 and 2017 National Championship seasons in cross country, and placed 20th at the 2017 Big Sky Championship. Nelson has competed in 26 indoor and outdoor track & field meets and has qualified for the 10K race at the Big Sky Outdoor Championships each of the last three seasons. Last season, he also raced in the 3,000m and 5,000m races at the Big Sky Indoor Championships.
Zoe Wall – Cross Country/Track & Field – Littleton, Colo.
Wall has logged appearances in 13 meets during the last two years as a member of the NAU track & field team. She had a breakthrough at the Bryan Clay Invite this past spring during the outdoor season, setting a new personal best in the 5,000m race to take third place overall, marking the second straight year in which she set a new 5K PR at that meet. She has also been a member of NAU's cross country team during her tenure in Flagstaff.
Kaitlyn Wayne – Track & Field – Kayenta, Ariz.
Wayne has been a part of five Big Sky indoor and outdoor track & field championship teams the last three seasons. This past spring, she notched a 16th-place finish at the Big Sky Indoor Championships and 12th-place finish at the Outdoor Championships in the long jump. Also last spring, she placed third in the long jump at NAU's Mountain T's Invitational.
Brady Williams – Track & Field – Henderson, Nev.
Williams enters his final season with the Lumberjack track & field program having competed in the weight throw at the conference indoor championships and both the discus and hammer throw at the outdoor championships. Williams placed 10th at the 2018 Big Sky Indoor meet and has logged three career first place indoor meet finishes, including last season's NAU Tune-Up and Mountain T's Invite.
Ryan Wolff – Cross Country/Track & Field – Goodyear, Ariz.
Wolff was a four-year member of the National Champion NAU men's cross country program and ran in 12 meets. This fall, he raced at both the Nuttycombe Invitational and Wisconsin Pre Nationals races. As a member of the track & field program, Wolff enjoyed a great 2018 season culminating in a personal-best and fourth-place finish in the Big Sky Outdoor 10K race.
Cory Young – Football – Corona, Calif.
Young earned two all-conference honors during his career in Flagstaff after transferring to NAU from Boise State prior to the 2017 season. Over his two seasons, Young led the Lumberjacks with 1,254 rushing yards. He paced the team in rushing yards during both the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Young reached the end zone 14 times on the ground and also notched 37 receptions for 229 yards.
