Cornell University Women's Rowing

Steve Coppola was named the Staley Head Coach of Women's Rowing at Cornell University in August 2019. He joins the Big Red after seven seasons of sustained success as an assistant at his alma mater, Princeton, where he was instrumental in building program depth. The Tigers won five of the last seven Ivy League championships under his tenure while maintaining top NCAA performance with six top-10 team finishes. Following his collegiate career at Princeton, where he led a heavyweight boat to the 2006 EARC/Ivy League title and silver at IRA nationals, Coppola embarked on an impressive international rowing career. He competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, helping the United States to a bronze medal in the men's eight at the Beijing Games. Coppola rowed the men's eight to a world title in 2005 in Gifu, Japan, and earned bronze medals in the men's 4+ in Spain in 2004 and men's 8+ in England in 2006. A native of Buffalo, New York, he won multiple Scholastic National Rowing Championships at Canisius High School.

Carter, who is in her second season as an assistant coach at Cornell, joins Cornell after spending just over five years as an assistant coach at Bucknell. During her tenure with the Bison, she served as the recruiting coordinator and oversaw the novice/freshman student-athletes from 2017-19, the Second Varsity 8 in 2018-19 and 2021-22, as well as the Varsity Four in the 2020-21 season. At Bucknell, she helped lead the Bison to consecutive bronze medal finishes at the Dad Vail Regatta in the spring of 2018 and 2019. Also in 2019, she guided the second varsity 8 to a silver medal at the Dad Vail Regatta and Patriot League Championships. Along with the silver medals, the varsity four (2021) and second varsity 8 (2022) won bronze at the Patriot League Championship, where Bucknell finished as a runner-up in three consecutive seasons while Carter's was on staff. Prior to Bucknell, Carter was involved with the Ithaca-based Cascadilla Boat Club, where she was an assistant varsity coach and head novice coach. She also was the interim head coach of the club during the summer of 2014 before returning to her role as assistant coach and head novice coach. Carter was a member of the Ithaca College rowing team for four years, serving as a rower during her freshman year in 2009-10, before concluding her final three years of her collegiate career as a coxswain from 2010-13. She also was a four-year rowing member with the Plant High Rowing Association.

Lillis joins Cornell after serving as an assistant coach at the Nereid Boat Club in Rutherford, N.J., for two-plus years. While at Nereid, Lillis helped grow the club program from 20 athletes to over 60, while developing technical and physical capabilities of all athletes, which led to numerous club erg records. He also helped coach the men's under-19 1X to a fifth-place finish at the USRowing Youth Nationals in 2023, as well as the boys novice 4x to first- and third-place finishes at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. Before his tenure at Nereid, Lillis served as a volunteer assistant coach for Georgetown's varsity men's rowing team for the spring portion of the 2019 schedule. At Georgetown, he assisted with on-water development with the Hoyas' EARC heavyweight program. During his undergraduate studies at Marist, Lillis served as a coxswain for the Red Foxes' varsity 8+ from 2015 to 2018. He also served as a coxswain for the Vesper Boat Club's U23 8+ and 4+ during the summer of 2017. When not racing, Lillis also served as a counselor and coach at Mary Whipple's ninth-seat coxswain camp in July 2018, while also serving as a youth coach at the New York Rowing Association during the summer of 2018. Lillis has garnered a trio of first-place finishes during his rowing career, which includes the 2017 Royal Canadian Henley in the men's U23 8+, and at the 2017 USRowing Club Nationals with the men's intermediate 4+. Both first-place finishes came while rowing for the Vesper Boa