BABSON PARK, Mass.—Three members of the Babson College men's lacrosse program were recognized for their success on the field and in the classroom when the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) announced its 2026 Scholar All-America honorees were announced earlier this month.
Graduate student
Beau Burns (Washington, D.C.) and seniors
Bennett Smith (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and
Will Reading (Southlake, Texas) were among the individual USILA Scholar All-America selections, while the Beavers were among 72 Division III programs to receive All-Academic team distinction for the sixth consecutive season under the direction of head coach
Rocky Batty after concluding 2025-26 with a 3.39 team grade-point average.
To be eligible to receive USILA Scholar All-America honors, a student-athlete must be a senior with at least a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average. He will have behaved in a manner that has brought credit to himself, his institution, and to college lacrosse both on and off the field. He must also be an All-American, a member of a North/South team, or an outstanding league or conference player. To be eligible for team academic accolades, a program must finish the academic year with a 3.0 GPA or higher.
Smith put together the best season of his career as a season producing career highs in goals (29), points (62), ground balls (40) and caused turnovers (10) while totaling a team-high 33 assists in 21 games on the way to earning USILA All-America second-team accolades. Selected as the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) player of the Year back in May, Smith produced a point in every contest and finished with seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in five postseason outings.
A two-time all-conference honoree, Smith became just the third player in Babson history to surpass 100 assists this spring, and ranks third all-time in helpers (108), sixth in points (189) and 17th in goals (81) to go along with 128 ground balls and 28 caused turnovers in 79 career games.
A transfer from Bowdoin, Burns had one of the best seasons in school history winning a program-best 72.4 percent of his face-offs (212-of-293) while scooping up 146 ground balls over 18 games on the way to receiving an All-America honorable mention from the USILA. He ranked second on the Beavers' single-season list in ground balls and third in face-off wins in addition to ranking seventh in Division III in face-off winning percentage and 32nd nationally in ground balls per game (8.11).
In 71 career games between Babson and Bowdoin, Burns won 60.9 percent of his face-offs (522-of-857) and collected 282 ground balls.
Reading, who was limited to just eight games this past season due to injury, won 39-of-77 face-offs (50.6 percent) and picked up 23 ground balls in addition to scoring one goal. He won 9-of-12 face-offs and scooped up six ground balls in the season-opening win over Wentworth and won a season-high 13 face-offs and picked up a season-best nine ground balls in the Beavers' NCAA Tournament second round victory over Mass. Maritime in May.
An All-New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) in 2025, Reading ranks third in Babson history in face-off wins (329). He won 52.6 percent of his career face-offs and ranks 15th on the program's career list with 155 ground balls.
Babson, which set a single-season record for wins, claimed its fourth consecutive NEWMAC title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in school history while concluding the year with a record of 18-3.
