Sometimes it's not easy for a student-athlete to pack everything into a single weekend. That was especially true this spring for Sara Tolner, a senior lacrosse player at Gettysburg College, when two of the biggest events of her collegiate career were held at the same time. Her team had qualified for the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse tournament Final Four, and if it won, would play the title game on May 17--the same day as the 2009 commencement ceremony.

Even if Gettysburg lost, which it did, it was unlikely Tolner would make it back to campus in time for graduation. Fortunately, the school had a contingency plan.

The Friday before traveling to the semifinal game, with her coaches, teammates, friends, and family looking on, Tolner received her degree in Health Sciences during a 25-minute ceremony that honored her as the sole graduate. Other than the absence of Tolner's classmates, the event closely resembled the one held two days later. It included the traditional greeting from the college president, a presentation from a guest speaker, and many of the other bells and whistles associated with graduation.

Gettysburg Director of Media Relations Kendra Martin says supplementary commencement ceremonies have become a tradition at the school due to both the men's and women's lacrosse teams' penchant for advancing deep into the national tournament. In fact, 11 graduating seniors from the men's team were honored at a similar ceremony the following Monday, an event scheduled after the team learned late Friday that it would play a tournament game in Baltimore that Sunday.

"Everything is in place and there's a hold on people's calendars that tells them if a spring sports team keeps winning, there's probably going to be a special commencement ceremony," Martin says. "Graduation is the pinnacle of a lot of hard work and support and to not be able to celebrate that achievement might leave people feeling a little empty--which we definitely don't want."