NEW YORK (Aug. 5, 2026) – Georgetown women’s soccer standout Maja Lardner was named BIG EAST Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while Butler track and field standout Jesse Hamlin was selected as the BIG EAST Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the league announced Wednesday. Both Lardner and Hamlin will receive a $4,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or professional studies. The selections were made by the Conference’s Academic Affairs Committee.
Lardner earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from Georgetown with a 3.612 cumulative GPA. She is pursuing graduate studies in real estate at Georgetown and has maintained a perfect 4.0 graduate GPA. Her academic honors include Dean’s List recognition, BIG EAST All-Academic honors and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District accolades. She also participated in Team IMPACT, Soccer Without Borders and Georgetown’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
On the field, Lardner earned Second Team All-America honors and was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year. The team captain also received All-BIG EAST First Team and All-East Region First Team honors after starting all 23 games, leading Georgetown with 14 goals and adding four assists. She later signed with Racing Louisville FC of the National Women’s Soccer League.
Hamlin earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from Butler with a 3.798 cumulative GPA and is pursuing a master’s degree in data analytics with a 3.904 graduate GPA. He graduated cum laude, earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Second Team honors in 2026, received CSC Academic All-District recognition in 2025 and 2026 and was named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team four times.
During the indoor track and field season, Hamlin won the 5,000 meters, mile and 4x800-meter relay at the BIG EAST Indoor Championships, becoming the first athlete in conference history to win all three events at the same championship. He was named the BIG EAST Most Outstanding Track Performer and High Point Performer before placing fifth in the 3,000 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships to earn First Team All-America honors.
The Conference also announced the male and female winners of the 2025-26 BIG EAST Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarships. Each institutional winner receives $2,000 toward graduate studies.