Hamilton College Profile

Continental Scholar Athletes

To many, the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is synonymous with all that's right with college athletics. Highly competitive, both academically and athletically, the conference strictly enforces high admissions standards for varsity athletes. That's the environment within which the Hamilton Continentals Women's Soccer team exists; weekly competitive conference games against the likes of Williams, Middlebury, Bowdoin, and Amherst, and high expectations for players in the classroom. And that's why Hamilton players love their team, school, and conference.

While a strong advocate of the DIII student athlete experience, Coach Colette Gilligan began her coaching career in the Division I ranks. Before arriving at Hamilton, Coach Gilligan was an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota for two seasons, and prior to that she was the head coach at Middle Tennessee State University from 1996 to 2000. Her collegiate coaching career began as an assistant at East Carolina University in 1994.

A native of Dublin, Ireland, Coach Gilligan first came to the U.S. as a player. Having played on the Irish National team, she was an immediate star at Division III Methodist College, earning All-America honors three times. She helped the Lady Monarchs to the NCAA Tournament's national semi-finals twice, and to the nation's number-one ranking during the 1990 season.

Now in her 14th year as the head coach, her Hamilton teams have a 118-61-24 record (.640 win pct.) and have advanced to the postseason 10 times, including three trips to the NCAA Division III championship.

About Hamilton College
Hamilton College's 1,350-acre campus is situated on a hilltop overlooking bucolic Clinton, New York. Although technically not in New England, if Hollywood were to create the ideal New England liberal arts college campus, Hamilton might very well be it.

Writing is a central focus of the academic mission of Hamilton, as expressed in the College's mantra "Hamilton is a national leader in teaching students to write effectively, learn from each other and think for themselves." With an otherwise open curriculum, the emphasis on writing results in one of the few course distribution requirements, as students must take at least three writing-intensive classes. The most popular Hamilton majors are economics, mathematics, political science and biology.

Founded in 1793 and named for Alexander Hamilton, a trustee on the board, Hamilton enrolls approximately 1,800 students from 46 states and 40 countries. Hamilton's admissions are highly competitive; its SAT 25th-75th percentile range is 1950 to 2220, and it accepts only around 27% of those who apply. Play the video below for more on Hamilton.