EASTHAMPTON — After a decorated career on the Williston Northampton School swim team, Ava Larkin officially made her decision on where she’ll continue her swimming career.
Larkin was one of five Wildcats to sign their National Letter of Intent on Monday at the Cain Athletic Center, with the Holyoke resident signing to swim for Division 1 Providence College.
“A lot went into the decision,” Larkin said. “It was a super long process and super hard because of COVID. I’ve been talking to Providence since before COVID started. The whole environment there; you know when you know. I know a girl from Williston who swims there so I loved it even more.”
Larkin is a five-time NEPSAC champion in the pool and holds Williston school records in the 200 IM, 100 breaststroke and three relays.
With the decision done, she’s now able to focus on her senior season while attempting to add to her impressive trophy collection.
“It feels so nice to have it done,” Larkin said of the decision. “It’s exciting, too, because it keeps getting closer. Leaving high school is hard but going to a school you love is so exciting. I want to continue on the success I’ve had here. I also want to have fun and be part of the team and with the team environment. I hope to keep growing as a swimmer.”
She’ll join Williston alumni Sally Alrutz and Natalie Aquadro on the Friars swim team. With COVID disrupting the recruiting process, having people she knew on the team made it an easier decision.
“I was able to go on a visit in September,” Larkin said. “I loved my visit at Providence. You couldn’t stay in dorms like usual — you stayed in a hotel — but you were with the recruits so it was similar.”
Easthampton native Selena Negron also signed her Letter of Intent on Monday, signing on to play soccer at Division 1 Bryant College.
Like Larkin, Negron has former teammates who currently play for the Bulldogs, which helped her zero in on the school.
“Bryant has been my number one school since I was a sophomore,” Negron said. “They came to a lot of my club soccer games and two of my club teammates are there now as freshmen. I was able to be around the Bryant campus a lot with my friends being there. When I was visiting them, I saw myself going there. Being there and around the team made me love it more. [Bryant] coach [Andy] Biggs and I started talking more and he thought I’d be a good fit as a goalkeeper on his team.”
Negron is a two-sport athlete at Williston, also playing basketball. She has been a four-year starter in both sports.
In soccer, she’s posted 19 shutouts in three seasons. Twice she’s recorded seven shutouts in a single season, which is a school record.
“It’s a weight off my shoulders,” Negron said. “It’s exciting I only had to apply to one school. Now I just need to train hard so I can be ready to go when I get there.”
Negron was the first recruit to commit to Bryant in the 2022 class. She said there were many factors making the Bulldogs the place she had an eye on from the start.
“It felt good that I was [their] top choice,” Negron said. “Bryant location-wise is close to home, the sense of community and knowing I would be able to play a good amount helped with the decision.”
With COVID, Negron has yet to do an official visit to the Smithfield campus, though has made multiple visits to the school. When college coaches weren’t allowed to travel to high school campuses, most of her recruitment was digital.
“I did a self-guided tour,” she said. “I haven’t done my official visit yet. A lot of the stuff I had to send them was video because they weren’t allowed to come to my games. The dead period got extended so they still weren’t able to come. It was really just film for a year. I sent over training but it was good once they got to see me play because everything they saw on video they could see in person.”
Three Wildcat ice hockey players signed their Letters of Intent on Monday – Jules Constantinople committed to Northeastern, Sophie Jones to RPI and Cora Webber to Maine.
Constantinople is a three-sport athlete at Williston and was named to the All-NEPSAC team on defense in hockey as a sophomore.
Jones has been a three-sport varsity athlete with the Wildcats for the last five years while Webber was a multi-sport athlete during her five years at Williston.