Photos are courtesy of Wellesley Athletic Communications

WESTWOOD, Mass. - As part of the NEWMAC's 25th Anniversary celebration, the conference is taking time throughout the 2022-2023 academic year to reflect on some of the pivotal moments that have transpired in the membership since its inception in 1998. These moments honor the dedication and positive influence of administrators, coaches, and student-athletes over the past two-and-a-half decades that have helped the NEWMAC, and its member institutions become champions of academic and athletic excellence and a preeminent conference in Division III.

The next NEWMAC top moment is awarded to Wellesley College Crew, who won their program's first NCAA National Championship in 2016. Blue Crew made seven consecutive trips to the NCAA Championship before winning their first title, which was sealed with a gold medal finish in the Varsity Eight Grand Final and a silver finish in the Second Varsity Eight Grand Final. Wellesley finished with 40 points, four points ahead of second-place finisher Bates. The victory marked the school's first NCAA Championship in its history. 

"Winning the first team championship in Wellesley College history and the first NCAA DIII Rowing Title for the NEWMAC was such a huge accomplishment and honor for a team that was so incredibly committed through the entire year," said Wellesley head coach Tessa Spillane. "Our student-athletes conducted themselves so professionally throughout the regatta and demonstrated such tenacity; it really laid the foundation to take our program to the next level - and we are still seeing that impact today. From that championship onward, you could see all of the NEWMAC Rowing programs driving forward to create one of the best, if not the best, conferences for rowing in all of Division III."

The Wellesley Varsity Eight secured the win for the Blue with the program's first gold medal in the Varsity Eight Grand Final. Emilia Ball, Kathryn Barth, Sydney Dollmeyer, Loren Lock, Molly Hoyer, Olivia Duggan, Lauren Bazley, Katie Livingston, and coxswain Alessandra Zaldivar-Giuffredi finished the race with a time of 6:46.100.

Ball, the stroke seat in the Varsity Eight in 2016 and now a member of the Wellesley coaching staff, can still recall the moment. "When we crossed the finish line in the Varsity 8 in 2016, I think our collective feeling was excitement followed very quickly by anticipation. The Second Varsity 8 had come down before us and we didn't know their results or how we placed as a team. Our coxswain had the clarity of mind to do a cool-down lap… so we could just enjoy our last few strokes as a boat before finding out rankings. That lap was one of the quietest rows I've ever had but, by the end of it, the peace, gratitude, and pride I felt for the team, the boat, and the race could not be shaken or defined by any results. When we pulled even to shore, however, our tranquil bubble was burst by crying teammates running toward us, waist-deep in the water, with hands and index fingers in the air, pointing "number one".

The Second Varsity Eight boat also had a strong finish as Anna Hakes, Sahar Ibrahim, Olivia Thayer, Grace Howland, Kelsey Campbell, Audrey Ellis, Meg Roberts, Margaret Babikian and coxswain Sydney Stento raced to a silver finish with a time of 6:59.315.

Blue Crew were coached to victory by head coach Tessa Spillane, who would go on to earn 2016 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Division III National Coach of the Year honors, as well as the CRCA Division III Coaching Staff of the Year, along with assistants Seth Hussey and Hannah Woodruff. 

Lock and Dollmeyer would also be named CRCA Division III All-Americans for their efforts.

Since the remarkable 2016 season for the Blue, the NEWMAC has continued to dominate on the national stage. Wellesley earned the programs second National Title in 2022 while in the same year, WPI took gold in the Varsity Eight Grand Final to claim the programs first NCAA crown in history.

About the NEWMAC
The NEWMAC is an association of 11 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with five Associate Members: Catholic University of America (Football), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), while sponsoring 20 sports. Salve Regina University will become the conferences 12th core member effective June 1, 2023, while N.Y. Maritime will be joining as an Associate Member in football.