NEWTON, Mass. – Lasell University Athletics has announced the Scholar-Athletes of the Year for the 2020-21 year, and they are senior track and field athletes Hannah Besaw (Shrewsbury, Mass./Assabet Valley Regional Vocational Tech) and Ben Biello (North Dighton, Mass./Dighton Rehoboth).

The Scholar-Athlete Awards are presented annually to one female and one male student-athlete who achieved the highest cumulative grade point average in their career at Lasell University. The recipients must have been a member of their intercollegiate athletic team for their entire career.

Besaw was a thrower on the Laser women's track and field team the past two years, competing in the shot put and discus events. Besaw's personal best performances were 8.48m (27'10") in the indoor shot put at Wesleyan University on February 1, 2020, and 15.03m (49'4") in the discus at UMass Boston on April 25, 2021. She placed 19th in the shot put at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Indoor Championships in 2020 and ninth at the USA Track & Field New England Indoor Championships. Besaw began her collegiate career at Newbury College, where she was a pitcher and designated player on the softball team for two years before transferring to Lasell.

Besaw graduated from Lasell earlier this month summa cum laude with a degree in Hospitality Management, earning Dean's List honors every semester of her college career. She was a resident assistant at Lasell, received the Academic Book Award for Hospitality, and was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, a National College Athlete Honor Society. She was also involved with the Alternative Spring Break Program.

Biello was a sprinter on the Lasell men's track and field team for four years, although he was unable to compete in 2021 due to restrictions caused by the pandemic. He placed fourth in the 100 meters (12.06 seconds) and seventh in the 200 meters (24.49) at the 2018 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships, and finished eighth in both events (12.59 and 24.71) at the 2019 GNAC Outdoor Championships. Biello is in the Lasell record books as a member of the fastest indoor sprint medley relay team (4:34.53 in 2019) and the fastest outdoor 4x100 relay team (46.66 seconds in 2018).

Biello graduated from Lasell earlier this month summa cum laude with a degree in Entrepreneurship with minors in Accounting and Coaching and earning Dean's List honors every semester of his college career. He was a recipient of the Academic Book Award for Entrepreneurship, and was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, a National College Athlete Honor Society. He was also a Co-Curricular Excellence Regalia recipient.

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