From her early childhood, Brianna DeGone always knew she wanted to pursue an athletic career at the University of Maine. DeGone and her family would make the two-hour trek from Turner to Orono to take in a football game and enjoy a few hot dogs and burgers at the tailgate before the Black Bears battled their opponent.

"Once you're on campus, the atmosphere really gets you," said DeGone of those fall Saturday afternoons. "Really the whole day was something I looked forward to. I looked up to those athletes. You don't realize they're just student-athletes when you're younger."

DeGone will graduate with a bachelor's degree in bioengineering with a minor in business administration on May 12. She was selected as the Class of 2018's salutatorian, posting a 3.90 GPA. DeGone is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Order of the Engineer, Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

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