Two former Auburn athletes win college national championships

A pair of former Auburn High School athletes were recently crowned national champions in their college sports.

Ross Burgmaster, a 2020 Auburn High School graduate, was a member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse National Champion Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Notre Dame won the title with a 15-5 victory over Maryland at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on May 27. It was the Fighting Irish’s second straight national championship and they are the first team to successfully defend their title in a decade.

Burgmaster, a senior defenseman, played in all 16 games for the 15-1 Fighting Irish and came up with 19 ground balls for the season. As a junior, he finished the season with two goals, 16 ground

balls and four caused turnovers. In his sophomore year, Burgmaster had 11 ground balls and six caused turnovers and recorded four games with multiple ground balls. As a freshman, Burgmaster finished with 18 ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Bryn Whitman, a 2022 Auburn High School graduate now competing as a sophomore at Onondaga Community College, won the discus at the NJCAA Division III Women’s Track and Field championships, her second national title in that event. 

Whitman’s winning throw measured 40.21 meters, six meters farther than the second-place holder, according to OCC’s website. Whitman was also named Female Region III Field Athlete of the Year for the second year. She is a three-time OCC record holder in the discus, javelin, and 4x200m relay.

She is fifth all-time in NJCAA Division III history in the discus throw. Whitman graduated from Onondaga in May and plans to attend SUNY Cortland where she'll participate in the Red Dragons’ track and field program.