University of New England Varsity Club Athletics Hall of Fame

Kayla Burgess

  • Class
    2018
  • Induction
    2025
  • Sport(s)
    Women's Swimming
Burgess (Kingston, Mass.) is the second swimmer inducted into the Hall of Fame. While completing a bachelor's degree in marine biology in 2018, she was a four-year member of the program at UNE and a senior captain. She saw the squad through a 26-10 record in dual meets and a program-best-tying 5th-place showing out of 21 institutions at the 2017 New England Intercollegiate Swimming & Diving Association (NEISDA) Championships. Burgess accumulated eight solo All-New England performances during her four tries at the NEISDA meet, including a spot on the podium in the 2018 400-Individual Medley event, claiming 3rd place. She finished in the top eight three times in both the 100-butterfly and 200-butterfly, with highs of 4th place in each in 2018. Burgess also snagged another medal in the 2016 200-freestyle relay. She still maintains a pair of UNE records in the 200-fly (2:13.80) and 400-IM (4:46.48) -- set in 2018 -- and was just displaced this year from the team mark in the 500-free (5:21.35). In these three races, Burgess owns either two or three of the program's five fastest times.

In 2018, Burgess was recognized by CoSIDA as part of the Academic All-America® Women's At-Large Second Team -- the second Nor'easter ever with such notation, at the time. She was also UNE's Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
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