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- Title:
- Head Crew Coach; PERA Professor of the Practice
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- Phone:
- 781-283-1856
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- Email:
- tspillan@wellesley.edu
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- Education:
- B.A., Mount Holyoke College; M.S., Smith College
Bio
A three-time Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Division III National Coach of the Year and two-time NIRC Coach of the Year, Head Crew Coach and PERA Professor of the Practice Tessa Spillane has been at the helm of the Blue Crew program since the 2005-06 season.
In 2016, she guided the Blue to the first NCAA Division III National Championship in school and program history. She also saw the Blue win the overall points trophy at the New England Rowing Championships for the first time and was awarded with the National Invitational Rowing Championship Coach of the Year and 24th Annual Joy of Sculling Coaching Conference College Coach of the Year honors in 2016. Spillane would repeat the feat in 2022 and 2023, with the Blue winning their second and third NCAA Division III National Championships. Wellesley's Varsity Eight has also won the New England Rowing Championship and National Invitational Rowing Championship during Spillane's tenure.
Spillane was presented with USRowing's Ernestine Bayer 'Woman of the Year' Award on December 3, 2016. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to women's rowing and/or to an outstanding woman in rowing. Spillane is the first NCAA Division III Women's Rowing Coach to earn the award since its inception in 1982.
She has guided Wellesley to 12 consecutive appearances at the NCAA Division III Championships, 10 NEWMAC Conference titles and has coached 22 All-America honorees. Under Spillane, Wellesley has been ranked in the top-ten nationally for each of the last 12 seasons. The 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2023 NEWMAC Coach of the Year, Spillane also guided the Blue to third place finishes at the NCAA Division III National Championships in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2019.
Spillane came to Wellesley from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon where she served as the Head Coach of Men’s and Women’s Rowing from 2001 to 2005. Spillane was named Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference Women’s Coach of the Year in 2004.
Spillane currently serves as the DII/DIII At-Large Representative to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Board of Directors. She chairs the Membership Committee and the DII/DIII Awards Selection Committee. Spillane has served on the NCAA DIII Rowing Committee, representing the New England Region from 2009-2011. She previously served on the Board of Directors for USRowing, the national governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States.
Spillane is an Assistant Professor of Physical Education at Wellesley and teaches in the required physical education program. Certified as a USRowing Level III coach in 1998, Spillane is also a graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy (Indianapolis, 2007).
Spillane holds a Bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College where she was a NEWMAC All-Conference athlete and captain. She also holds a Masters in Exercise and Sport Studies from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
| Season | NCAA Championships |
NEWMAC Championships |
ECAC/NIRC |
NERC | Head Of The Charles |
Seven Sisters |
| 2005-06 | -- | 4th | -- | -- | -- | 3rd |
| 2006-07 | -- | 2nd | -- | -- | 37th (V8+) | -- |
| 2007-08 | -- | 3rd (Points Champion) | 8th | 5th | 28th (V8+) | -- |
| 2008-09 | -- | 2nd | 8th | 5th | 13th (V8+) | 3rd |
| 2009-10 | 5th | 2nd | 5th | 5th | 21st (V8+) | 1st |
| 2010-11 | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | 4th (V8+) | 1st |
| 2011-12 | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | 4th (V8+) | 1st |
| 2012-13 | 4th | 1st | 5th | 5th | 5th (V8+) | 1st |
| 2013-14 | 4th | 1st | 5th | 4th | 8th (V8+) | 1st |
| 2014-15 | 3rd | 1st | 4th | 3rd | 3rd (V8+) | 1st |
| 2015-16 | 1st | 1st | 11th | 1st | 4th, 15th (V8+/2V8+) | 1st |
| 2016-17 | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 4th | 6th, 18th (V8+/2V8+) | 1st |
| 2017-18 | 2nd | 1st | 10th | 2nd | 14th, 20th (V8+/2V8) | 1st |
| 2018-19 | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 10th, 17th (V8+/2V8+) | 1st |
| 2019-20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2nd, 20th (V8+/2V8+) | N/A |
| 2020-21 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2021-22 | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd, 18th (V8+/2V8+) | -- |
| 2022-23 | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd |
2nd, 8th (V8+/2V8+) |
-- |
| 2023-24 | -- | 3rd | 6th | 6th |
10th, 20th (V8+/2V8+) |
-- |
| Totals | 18 Seasons | |||||