WALTHAM, Mass. – Two Bentley Falcons were named finalists for major awards from the Northeast 10 on Tuesday.
Caitlin Burmester was chosen as a finalist for the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and
David Gagnon for the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Burmester starred for the Bentley cross country and track and field teams in 2024-25.
In the fall cross country season, she led the Falcons to the first NE10 championship in program history and qualified individually for the NCAA Championship. She was the USTFCCCA East Region Runner of the Year and the NE10 Sport Excellence Award for women's cross country.
The track and field season saw her win four individual gold medals, the 800 meter and the one mile indoors and the 800 and 1500 meter outdoors.
Burmester, who was Bentley's Edward J. Powers Scholar-Athlete Award winner, majored in both accounting and liberal studies and maintained a 3.95 GPA. She's earned eight NE10 Academic All-Conference team selections in her career for both cross country and track.
Gagnon, a team captain for men's lacrosse, helped the Falcons reach the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year in 2025.
He tied for the team lead with 34 goals and was third with 40 points. Individual honors he received were second team All-Conference, second team All-New England and USILA All-Region honorable mention.
Gagnon majored in economics-finance and had a 3.95 GPA. In 2023, he was the NE10 Elite 24 Award winner for men's lacrosse while also being named to the Academic All-Conference team. In 2024 he was selected to the CSC Academic All-District team.
The NE10 Scholar-Athletes of the Year will be announced on June 3.
Eligibility requirements for nomination are that a student-athlete must be in their final year of athletic eligibility, graduating with a degree in May (unless in a master's program), must be enrolled in a full-time course load and must have a minimum final cumulative grade point average of 3.30. A committee made up of faculty members and athletic administrators conducts voting for the awards.
