Lexington Residents Honored as Scholar-Athletes

Lexington residents Peter Crampton and John Bergantino recently joined 31 other athletes at the 36th annual Scholar-Athlete Banquet, presented by the Jack Grinold Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of the National Football Foundation.

Crampton, a senior at Lexington High School, and Bergantino, a senior at the Belmont Hill School were among those honored their achievements both on and off the football field this year. Nominated by their coaches, scholar-athlete recipients are among the state’s best in terms of both academics and play on the field. According to the Jack Grinold Chapter, more than half of recipients go on to attend Ivy League colleges and universities.

The awards were handed out along with the Distinguished American and the Contributor to Amateur Football awards last Monday at Lombardo’s in Randolph.

Both recipients from Lexington said receiving the award was an honor.

“I was psyched and I had no idea that I was in that top class,” Crampton said. “And, to be honest, I didn’t think I had a great year (on the gridiron). I thought I played better my junior year than I did my senior year. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to get the award.”

Added Bergantino, “It was really great and a really nice honor. I have to thank my coach for nominating me. There were some really good football players there and some really good students too. I was really honored to be named amongst them.”

Last fall, Crampton was an offensive and defensive lineman for the Minutemen, helping to lead the team to a record of 6-5 in its final year under coach Bill Tighe. The legendary coach was also on hand at the Scholar-Athlete Banquet, having been recognized in the past.

Crampton said he was unaware of the honor bestowed by the local chapter of the National Football Foundation until Tighe informed him of the nomination. Nevertheless, Crampton was grateful to his coach for thinking him deserving of such a high honor.

“I was thrilled, to say the least, that he would nominate me for this and even more thrilled that I won,” Crampton said. “It’s been an absolute honor playing under coach Tighe. I really couldn’t have asked for a more enjoyable experience. He really drove me to be all I could be.”

Next year, he’s set to attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to study chemical engineering. The school has one of the leading programs in the field in the country, and has been recognized by Newsweek as being one of the “New Ivies.” After graduation, Crampton will pursue a career in either the biomedical or defense fields.

At Carnegie Mellon, Crampton will play football for the Tartans, who compete in the University Athletic Association of the NCAA’s Division III.

Formerly a three-sport athlete at Lexington, Crampton said he chose to focus on football and wrestling this year. He’ll report for preseason camp in early August. Crampton said the date is already circled on his calendar.

“I really jut can’t wait to get back on the field,” he said.

Bergantino said he too was unaware his coach planned to nominate him as a Scholar-Athlete.

Come fall, he will be attending The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn’s business school. Though he isn’t sure of his long-term pursuits, Bergantino said he will compete for the Quakers’ historic and decorated crew team.

He was recruited by a number of schools to play football, but Bergantino said he enjoyed his visit to Penn’s Philadelphia campus and decided to commit to row.

“I really liked their coaches, I was really interested in the business program and I just fell in love with the school the first time I stepped on campus,” he said. “I made the decision to focus on crew during the recruiting process.”

Following graduation, Bergantino will leave the Belmont Hill School a highly decorated athlete. In addition to starring on the football field, where he was a captain this fall and was a part of Belmont Hill nearly knocking off a nationally ranked Lawrence Academy team, Bergantino has also been a standout wrestler and rower.

He was the 215-pound Independent School League champion in wrestling, placed fourth in New England and 16th at nationals. For crew, he has been part of two New England championship teams and is currently defending Belmont Hill’s national championship.

Both Bergantino and Crampton agreed that it hasn’t been easy balancing homework and class work with practices, games and the off-field workouts that go into becoming accomplished athlete.

“It is very tough, I have to be honest. You just try to trudge through the hard work of it and, I don’t know, tough it out,” Bergantino said. “You have to have high goals and be motivated. Most importantly, I just try to enjoy what I’m doing.”

Crampton too acknowledged the difficult commitment it takes to be a Scholar-Athlete takes.

“It’s ridiculously hard and demanding, especially trying to fit a social life in there somewhere,” he said. “It helps that my school is one of the top schools and I’m surround by other amazing people who are very talented in the arts and other sports. We all feel the same pressure and crack together to just get it done.”

But somehow they have and agree that all that work has paid off, which is reflected in their recognition as Scholar-Athletes.