Local college swimmer reflects on weekly MVP honor, winning streak, student life

Call it the perfect union of student-athlete and college.

“Williams has far exceeded my expectations,” said Samantha Kilcoyne, a junior at the picturesque campus in the Berkshires.

The feeling is no doubt mutual from those at Williams. Kilcoyne, a 2019 Nipmuc Regional High School alum from Upton, was named the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Swimming & Diving Performer of the Week on Tuesday.

The former Daily News All-Star was recognized for her key role in four wins by the Ephs that extended their current NCAA Division III win streak to a 128.

On Friday against nationally ranked NYU (No. 5) and MIT (No. 6), the junior captain posted a split of 54.76 in the butterfly leg of the winning 400 medley relay and won three individual  events – 50 freestyle (23.73), 100 freestyle (52.09) and the 100 butterfly (55.72). Saturday, against Middlebury and Hamilton, Kilcoyne posted a split of 24.86 on the butterfly leg of the winning 200 medley relay and won two individual events: 200 freestyle (1:54.66) and 50 butterfly (25.22). She finished the meet with a 23.69 split on the winning 200 freestyle relay.

"It's fun as you get older in the program, your role changes," Kilcoyne said, noting that she did more backstroke as a freshman in 2019-20. "You're able to take on more responsibility. Being a captain is a very challenging and rewarding experience. It's fun to be a part of the team and play a small role in everyone's success."

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The program is long on success, having not lost a dual meet against Division III competition since 2008. That’s 15 years running, no defeats versus its peers. And this isn’t a case of not talking about the no-hitter while it is happening. The streak is not some third-rail topic for Ephwomen swimmers. Rather, the continuous winning that began before some current Ephs had entered kindergarten is a point of pride up for constant consideration.

“It’s a goal we have every year, to keep the streak going,” Kilcoyne said. “It’s incredible the number of people that have been on this team and been a part of it, part of the legacy.”

Last year, Williams coach Steve Kuster was named as one of the top 100 swim coaches in the first 100 years of collegiate swimming across all divisions by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).

To have played her role in the program’s continuous ascent is a particular point of pride for Kilcoyne and her teammates.

“There are some truly incredible athletes, students, people that have been a part of it,” she said. “It feels like we are playing a small part, and that all these people who have done it are pushing us forward. In no way is the streak a guarantee.”

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Kilcoyne pointed to the meet against MIT and NYU. The team results? Williams defeated the Engineers, 203-97, and NYU, 212-88.

“We have to come into every meet with the attitude that nobody is going to hand anything to us,” Kilcoyne said. “It’s cool to step up and see teammates rise to the challenge. Our goals are just to continue adding to the culture and success that the team has had in the past and hopefully will continue to have. That streak is definitely something we keep our eyes on and hope to continue each season.”

While swimming with the Grafton co-op team in high school, Kilcoyne proved to be among the state’s premier swimmers. She earned Division 1 state championships in both the 100 butterfly (All-American consideration time of 55.41) and 100 backstroke (58.26). Over her four years of varsity high school swimming, she lost only one individual race in league competition. She was a two-time USA Swimming scholastic All-American in club for having top-10 times in New England.

While many prospective universities wanted Kilcoyne, Williams had the goods.

“When I came here on a recruiting trip, it was clear that the people were all phenomenal people and the professors were all super involved,” said Kilcoyne, a computer science and statistics double major. “It’s a whole other thing to be a part of it. In this bubble, you really have no choice but to spend time with each other. With 2,500 or so people at the school, it’s the kind of community I’ll never be a part of the rest of my life. The professors are all phenomenal. I’ve grown as a student, an athlete and a person. I’m very thankful I made the decision to come here.”

When not improving her times between the lanes, Kilcoyne is still hard at work. She remained in Williamstown last summer doing computer science research on algorithmic game theory with a professor and another student. She is currently working on her thesis in statistics, one in which she works one-on-one with a department professor.

“That project is about networks,” Kilcoyne said. “Studying long COVID.”

In Kilcoyne’s social network, one shouldn’t be surprised to hear academic talk.

“A lot of friends are doing theses, so it’s fun to hear what they are all doing,” she said. “When I do my thesis defense in May, there will be friends and teammates in the room cheering me on as I would do for everyone else. People are genuinely interested in how you’re doing, interested in how different departments do the thesis process differently.”

Kilcoyne has an internship set up for this summer doing artificial intelligence and data science for finance. She spent the last two summers doing research, whether it be computational statistics or computer science. She's not sure yet whether she would rather enter industry or academia after Williams.

“This summer will tell me what I’m really thinking,” said Kilcoyne, who took some time off from her studies in 2020. “I have an extra summer as I would’ve been working this year. This will hopefully give a clearer picture.”

In the meantime, expect the winning to continue.

Grand Golden Gopher entrance for Sherborn's Yablonski

Sherborn’s Ava Yablonski was routinely the Daily News Swimmer of the Year throughout her high school career, a four-time Tri-Valley League and team MVP before graduating in 2022. She won six state titles, including the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly as a senior and freshman, and 100 back and 50 free as a sophomore. She holds Dover-Sherborn records in six events.

Going from the TVL to the Big Ten, Yablonski has barely blinked. In a short time at the University of Minnesota, the freshman has continued to impress in the pool. Already she ranks seventh in team history for the 100 back (53.53), 11th for the 200 back (1:57.48) and 13th for the 100 fly (53.82). In November, Yablonski was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week.

Other former Daily News All-Star swimmers and divers shining at the college level:

WOMEN: Sara Anastasi, Sacred Heart University junior (Framingham); Angela Burke, Ithaca College sophomore (Framingham); Katie Cashin, Drew University senior (Franklin); Emma Diiani, Connecticut College senior (Wayland); Sarah Doherty, University of Vermont senior (Natick); Laura Dubé, University of Maine freshman (Framingham); Molly Jordan, Skidmore University junior (Wellesley); Gracie Meisner, Gettysburg College sophomore (Wellesley); Lizzie Meschisen (diving), Northeastern University junior (Northborough – Algonquin); Lia Oppenheim, Fairfield University sophomore (Wellesley); Eva Parson, Brandeis University sophomore (Milford); Emma Petrovich (diving), UMass senior (Wellesley); Remmi Shaw, Loyola University (Md.) (Wayland); Nellie Thompson, Marist College junior (Wellesley); Tess Weatherhead (diving), University of Richmond freshman (Hopkinton); Irene Yang, Williams College freshman (Dover-Sherborn)

MEN: Antonio Arena, Lafayette College sophomore (Natick); Ray Cerro, Roger Williams University senior (Southborough – Algonquin); Edmond Giang, Bates College senior (Wayland); Alex Gu, Tufts University sophomore (Ashland); Zach Halsey, Case Western Reserve University freshman (Lincoln-Sudbury); Jeremy Lawrence (diving), Tufts University freshman (Dover-Sherborn); Zach Lawrence (diving), Tufts University senior (Dover-Sherborn); Aidan Malvey, Catholic University freshman (Holliston); Ethan Mossi, Ithaca College sophomore (Lincoln-Sudbury); Justin Papagelis, Amherst College junior (Westborough); Alex Pecze, Rochester Institute of Technology junior (Ashland); Daniel Scherrer, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy junior (Wellesley); Nick Smith, Middlebury College senior (Wayland).

Tim Whelan Jr. is sports coordinator for the MetroWest and Milford Daily News and Wicked Local. Follow him on Twitter @thattimwhelan.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: On Campus: Local takes NESCAC Swimmer of the Week honors