Super Sophs: Florida's Clark Hamilton

As a redshirt freshman, Chloe Humphrey set college lacrosse on fire — leading North Carolina to a national championship while becoming the first freshman to win the Tewaaraton Award as the nation's top player.

She wasn't the only rookie to make her presence felt last season. USA Lacrosse Magazine caught up with five true freshmen from last season poised to continue their stories in our Super Sophs series.

Super Sophs

• October 2: North Carolina's Eliza Osburn
• October 3: Navy's Alyssa Chung
• October 6: Florida's Clark Hamilton
• October 7: Penn's Orly Sedransk
• October 8: North Carolina's Kate Levy

CLARK HAMILTON

Attack

Freshman stats: 55G, 15A, 18GB

Postseason honors: Big 12 All-Newcomer team, Big 12 All-Tournament team

Clark Hamilton has been a Gator since birth.

“I was born in Florida and raised a Gators fan,” said Hamilton, who played high school lacrosse at Blessed Trinity (Ga.). “I had the memorabilia all in my house, the posters in my room, even before I started playing lacrosse.”

Lacrosse was a significant factor when choosing colleges for the three-time Georgia state champion and two-time USA Lacrosse High School All-American. But so were academics. Hamilton is a biomedical engineering major.

In the end, it wasn’t rocket science because “Florida fired on all cylinders.”

During Hamilton’s freshman year, she did, too. With an explosive first step and ability to dodge from the wing, the lefty attacker finished second on the team with 55 goals. The Gators — fresh off a 2024 final four run — needed every one of them. 

Florida had graduated seven of its top eight goal scorers from 2024. Hamilton knew she was arriving in Gainesville to a team with open spots — one of which she wanted to fill. But she kept an open mind, buoyed by the open arms of returning players who helped her learn the collegiate ropes.

“The transition from high school to college is a big jump,” Hamilton said. “But our freshmen class didn’t need to freak out. The team invited us to ask questions and learn, and that’s what I focused on — learning what I can get better at and feeling confident enough to make mistakes and try new things.”

And she did. Hamilton took pride in her imperfect progress when she saw more goals go in the back of the net, including a season-high five-goal performance against Arizona State in the inaugural Big 12 title game, a win for Florida. She noticed she could get past a defender with her dodges and set herself up to be more open for a teammate (or vice versa). 

Those experiences paid off not only down the stretch run of Florida’s season but into the summer and this fall. Whereas three years ago Hamilton may have had to “wait her turn” behind graduate students, last year she saw action in 23 games and made nine starts.

“It was a foundation-builder,” Hamilton said. “Any time I have any doubt or uncertainty, I can look back and say, ‘Look what I just did. Look at what the team accomplished.’ To be able to play in those competitive games and the final four builds confidence. I’ve dipped my feet in. I’ve been through this experience, and I can share that with the new freshman and find new opportunities to expand my game.”

Hamilton wants to get stronger from the 8-meter arc and become more of a threat off-ball.

“I feel like a lot of my opportunities came from being like a heavy 1-on-1 dodger,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton hopes to become more versatile, especially as opponents learn her tendencies. And while she’s reuniting with familiar faces ahead of the 2026 season, including Gianna Monaco (73G, 22A) and Frannie Hahn (33G, 59A), she’s still in a state of experimentation.

“There are certain things that may happen this fall that didn’t happen last fall, so it’s important to have confidence and say, ‘OK, this may not work,’” Hamilton said. “It’s about testing, trial and error.”

Spoken like a future scientist.