NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's lacrosse team matched its own program record for the second straight year with 10 team members named to the 2026 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Division III Academic Honor Roll. In addition, the Lyons were selected as an Honor Squad for the 2025-26 academic year, it was announced by the IWLCA.
Student-athletes from institutions from the NCAA Division I, II and III level as well as NAIA are eligible for the award. To be eligible for this honor, student-athletes must be a junior, senior, or graduate student and have earned a cumulative academic grade point average of 3.50 or greater.
Seniors Jessica Chamberlin (Bow, N.H.), Katie Hallee (Norway, Maine), Riley Kilbourn (Madison, Conn.), Sara Spielman (Norwalk, Conn.) and Kayleigh York (Scarborough, Maine) were all honored for the second straight year. Juniors Kelsey Bennett (Harrison, Maine), Annemieke Buterbaugh (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), Makenna Gilman (Middletown, R.I.), Jenna Langan (Lincoln, R.I.) and Georgia Qua (Suffield, Conn.) were all selected in their first year of eligibility for the award.
To qualify for the prestigious Honor Squad accolade, a women's lacrosse team must have posted a 3.2 or higher team grade point average for the academic year.
Wheaton posted a 3.50 team GPA for the academic year and has been named following each of the last 15 consecutive seasons that the honor has been bestowed, except for 2020 when no award was presented due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total of 10 Lyons honored by the IWLCA ties last year's school mark. Wheaton ranked 28th among Division III schools in number of honorees and was among the top 16% for the highest number of recipients in the nation by a Division III institution. Five or more Lyons have been honored by the IWLCA in each of the last five years.
Chamberlin was a Second Team All-Conference selection by the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference. The Political Science major ranked sixth among league leaders with 73 points on 53 goals and 20 assists, while ranking 11th in the nation in shooting accuracy. Hallee was also a Second Team All-Conference honoree and was among the best defenders in the NEWMAC. The Environmental Science major registered a team-high 63 draw controls and was fourth on the team with 14 caused turnovers. Kilbourn's season was limited to just three games due to injury. The Chemistry and Anthropology major still managed to net a goal in her only start of the campaign. Spielman started all 18 games and tallied 13 points, including 10 goals. The Biology major ranked fourth for Wheaton with four free position markers. York also got the starting nod in all 18 matches for the Lyons. The Psychology major was disruptive on the defensive end, recording 20 caused turnovers for the second-highest tally on the team.
Bennett saw action in four matches for Wheaton. The Elementary Education major netted three goals and added an assist. Buterbaugh started 12 of 16 contests for the Blue and White. The Sustainable Design and Development major collected 17 points, including seven goals, and picked up 13 ground balls to go with four caused turnovers. Gilman saw time in four games on the defensive end for the Lyons. The Biology and Business Healthcare Management major made the switch to the field from the net and came up with a ground ball and caused a turnover during the campaign. Langan served as Wheaton's primary netminder, starting 14 of 17 games in goal. The Psychology major posted an 11.56 goals against average and owned a 44.6% save mark for the fourth-best figure in the conference over 767:59 minutes of action. Qua earned Second Team All-Conference designation after racking up a career-high 68 points, including 51 goals. The Sociology major placed sixth among league leaders in goals.
The Lyons finished the season with an 11-7 record for their highest win total since 2014, while posting a 5-5 mark in the conference to earn the number six seed in the NEWMAC Championship Tournament.
