• CRCA Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year (2010, 2011)
• EAWRC Head Coach of the Year (2010)
* Watch Coach Gehman on Sidelines
Hilary Gehman, a six-time member of the U.S. national rowing team and a two-time Olympian who served as the interim head coach of the Cornell women’s crew in 2006-07, was named the Staley Head Coach of Women’s Rowing in July 2007.
Since taking over the program during the spring of 2007, Gehman’s varsity boats have showed steady improvement in both times and results, with the past five seasons proving to be the best yet.
A well-respected coach in the rowing community, Gehman has been selected to run the U.S. Rowing Women’s National Team Freshman Camp three times (2008, 2009, 2011) and was the coach of the U23 Quad that placed fourth at the 2010 World Rowing championships.
Last season, the Cornell varsity eight was remarkably competitive considering that it featured just three seniors. The regular season was highlighted by earning its sixth consecutive Class of ’89 Plaque. The varsity eight went on to finish fifth at the Ivy League Rowing Championship, while the team took seventh overall. Following the season, Kate Roach earned her second All-American honor with a second-team selection. She was also one of three Big Red rowers to be honored by the CRCA with a first-team Mid-Atlantic Region selection, while co-captain Lily Eisermann was named to the second-team and Kelly Albanir was named a CRCA National Scholar Athlete.
In 2012-13, the Big Red enjoyed another solid season, despite losing seven members of the varsity eight that took silver at the 2012 Ivy League Rowing Championship. The squad suffered some setbacks early in the Cup season, but still managed to take home the Class of ’89 Points Plate, as well as the Parent’s Cup with victories over Penn and Dartmouth, respectively.
For the second-straight season, the Big Red earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Women's Rowing Championships, after finishing fourth overall in the team standings at the 2013 Ivy League Women’s Rowing Championship. The team then finished 15th overall at NCAAs, with the second varsity eight proving to be Cornell's top finisher on the day, winning the C Finals and take 13th place overall. The varsity eight finished 15th overall, while the varsity four took 17th.
Following the season, the team had nine members honored by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA). Rowers Leigh Archer and Kate Roach were named Mid-Atlantic Region first-team selections, while Mary Lang, Hannah Wilson and coxswain Madeline Bender were named to the second-team. Archer was also named a CRCA National Scholar Athlete, along with Solveig Imsdahl, Anna Payne, Kira Prtichard and Shelly Tremaglio. Both Roach and Archer went on to earn All-America honors, with Roach earning a spot on the first team, while Archer was named to the second team.
In 2011-12, Gehman picked up her second career CRCA Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year award after leading Cornell to one of its best campaigns in more than 20 years. During the Cup season, Cornell earned victories over Syracuse, Boston University, Yale, Columbia and Dartmouth before taking the silver medal in the varsity eight race at the inaugural Ivy League Championship. The Big Red also placed fourth in team points at the Ivy League Championship, edged by third-place Yale by just one-point, but used that performance to secure a berth to the 2012 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship, its second selection to NCAAs overall and its first in 10 years. Cornell beat its seed and place 13th overall, finishing one-point behind 12th place Radcliffe and six points in front of Brown.
The varsity four was the highest placing boat at the NCAA championship, placing fourth in the Petite Final to finish 10th in the nation, while the varsity eight took fifth in the Petite Final for 11th place. The second varsity eight finished second in the Third Level Final.
During the NCAA championship, junior Shelly Tremaglio was named the recipient of the Elite 89 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships.
With such an amazing season in the books, it’s no surprise that individual accolades poured in for the Big Red student-athletes. Topping the list was a pair of CRCA All-American selections for Taylor Goetzinger ’12 and Cecelia Madsen ’12. Goetzinger was named to the first-team and became Cornell’s first-ever repeat CRCA All-American selection, while Madsen earned a spot on the second team. The duo took the honor after being named Mid-Atlantic Region first-team selections along with teammates Leigh Archr ’13 and Jeannie Friedman ’12, while Tracy Eisser ‘12 was a regional second-team honoree. Eisser and Friedman were also named CRCA National Scholar Athletes, along with teammates Judy Amsalem ‘12, Maggie Cook ‘12, and Anna Psiaki ‘12.
Additionally, for their effort at the Ivy League Championship, the entire varsity eight crew of Friedman, Madsen, Goetzinger, Archr, Eisser, Psiaki, Kay C. Byrnes ‘12, Stephanie Lohberg ‘12 and Stephanie Kuntz ’13 were named second-team All-Ivy.
During the 2010-11 season, the Big Red spent the entire spring ranked in the top 20 nationally, reaching as high as No. 10 in the polls. Cornell picked up wins over Yale, Syracuse, Radcliffe, Princeton, Penn, Rutgers, Columbia, Dartmouth, Iowa, Duke, Bucknell, Rhode Island and Buffalo before advancing all six of its boats into the Grand Finals of the Eastern Sprints for the second straight season.
At Sprints, both the varsity and second varsity eight boats placed sixth overall, while the third varsity eight and the varsity four took fifth. The varsity 4B crew took the silver medal and the varsity 4C earned the victory over Penn for the Big Red's only gold medal of the day. The solid showing by all six boats in the Grand Finals earned Cornell a fourth-place team finish overall.
As a result of the Big Red’s stellar season, Cornell had 11 student-athletes honored by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA). Taylor Goetzinger ’12 and Anna Psiaki ’12 were named to the All Mid-Atlantic Region first team, while Natalie Wingerning ’11, Leigh Archer ’13 and Jeannette Friedman ’12 were second-team selections. Psiaki and Friedman also headlined a list of eight Cornellians named CRCA National Scholar-Athletes.
The Big Red had a breakout season in 2009-10 and as a result, Gehman was named the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year as well as the EAWRC Head Coach of the Year. In just her fourth season at the helm of the program, she directed the Big Red to its first national ranking since May 5, 2004, when the team came in at No. 20 in the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA Division I Coaches poll on April 15. In the final poll of the regular season, the Big Red placed 18th and narrowly missed out on a berth to the NCAA tournament.
Following the season, Erica Crump ’11 and Cecelia Madsen ’12 earned CRCA All Mid-Atlantic Region first-team honors, while Taylor Goetzinger ’12 was named to the second-team. Additionally, seven Cornellians were named CRCA National Scholar-Athletes.
In the 2008-09 campaign, she led the Cornell varsity eight to a 2-8 record, while the second varsity eight and novice boats fared better with a 3-7 and 6-8 record, respectively. The varsity eight crew took 11th at the Eastern Sprints, while the novice boat found its way to the medal podium with a third place finish in the grand finals.
Under Gehman’s tutelage, Crump was named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) All-Mid-Atlantic Region first-team.
In 2007-08, the Big Red finished in the top 10 at Eastern Sprints for the first time since 2004, placing ninth overall. Her second varsity eight boat was even stronger, placing sixth overall and making the Grand Finals.
Gehman served as the Big Red women’s novice rowing coach for two and a half seasons after being hired in 2004. In her two seasons with the Big Red, the novice women combined for an 11-6 record.
Gehman competed in the women’s 4X in both the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, placing fifth both times.
A two-time Olympian, Gehman has also raced on four U.S. national teams in the women’s quad, earning a bronze medal in 2001. A competitor at numerous World Cup stops with the U.S. team, Gehman and her crewmates captured four bronze medals at four international regattas since 1999, and her quad earned the gold medal at the 2003 Munich World Cup. In competitions at the national level, Gehman won the double sculls at the 2001 and 2002 Head of the Charles regattas and finished second in 2003.
Gehman earned coaching experience in the competitive EAWRC while serving as the assistant coach at Georgetown from 2000-03, and her first novice boat captured the Big East title in 2001. Prior to her time in the nation’s capital, Gehman was the head men’s and women’s rowing coach at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., from 1996-98, overseeing 60 student-athletes.
A native of Wolfeboro, N.H., Gehman graduated from Colby College in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She was a four-year member of the Mules’ club rowing team, as the sport was elevated to varsity status the season following her graduation.
Gehman is an exceptional all-around athlete whose national team career and active lifestyle make her a role model for Cornell’s undergraduates. She still logs many miles in her single and on the ergometer, but she has diversified her training by competing in The Birkebeiner, a 51km cross country ski marathon held in Hayward, Wis. In warm weather she enjoys swimming across Cayuga Lake, and she has successfully completed two half ironman triathlones (the Tupper Lake Tinman and the Musselman Half Iron).
Gehman is married to former national team member and current heavyweight rowing associate head coach Matt Smith and they have two sons, Luke and Carson.
* Updated July 2014
