SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (April 21, 2025) – Western New England women's lacrosse senior Mia Celentano and WNE men's outdoor track and field first-year Nolan Palmer have been awarded Golden Bear Athletes of the Week this week for their individual performances on the field as well as the track this past week that led to successful week's for both teams. 

Mia Celentano continued to shine for the Golden Bears, helping Western New England come up with a conference victory on home turf over Curry College while scoring two-thirds of the team's goals in a close conference game against the University of Hartford. Celentano began the week in the win over Curry by scoring six times and adding two assists, good for eight total points in the game. Celentano came around with her 200^th career point for the Golden Bears in the victory, taking nine shots, putting seven on goal while scooping a ground ball. Celentano's week got even better in conference action at the University of Hartford, matching a career-high with nine points, scoring eight times, marking the first time in her career in which she found the back of the net eight times in a single game. Celentano also picked up an assist in the game, coming up with a point on nine of the 12 goals scored for Western New England, taking 12 shots, putting ten on goal while coming up with two ground balls and a season-best 11 draw control victories. This season, Celentano has played in and made starts in all 15 games for Western New England, coming up with 51 goals and 19 assists, good for 70 points overall, four off her career high mark of 74 from a season ago. Celentano's 51 goals sit fifth most in the conference this season, while her 70 points rank sixth-most.

Nolan Palmer became the fourth Golden Bear this season to punch his ticket into the New England Division III Championships, which take place on Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3. Palmer competed at the Bonnie Edmundson Classic last Friday afternoon, qualifying for the championships event in the 400m hurdles event, coming in with a time of 57.55 seconds. Palmer took fourth place overall out of 17 participants at the event. The time qualifies Palmer by .45 of a second. Palmer also participated in the high jump event last weekend, coming in with a 1.60m finish. Palmer joins teammates Matt Provost, Ike Ogbonnanze, and Kayla Kyles, who have all qualified in their individual events for the New England Championships. 

The Western New England women's lacrosse team returns to action for their final Conference of New England game of the season on Wednesday, April 23 at 7:00 PM for senior day at Golden Bear Stadium against Nichols College.

WNE men's & women's track and field get underway again this Saturday, April 26, at the Conference of New England Championships, hosted by Gordon College, beginning at 10:00 AM.