CHESTER, Pa. – For the fourth edition of Widener Athletics' Women's History Month series, entitled "Women's History Mondays," the Pride previews Associate Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator Larissa Gillespie.

Gillespie served as Widener's field hockey head coach and women's lacrosse head coach. She was the field hockey head coach from 2000-19. During her tenure in field hockey, the Pride were 185-156. During those 20 seasons, the Pride made the MAC Commonwealth Semifinals five times and the ECAC First Round three times. Field hockey also saw five straight years of 10 or more victories from 2003-07. In addition, plenty of records were broken or set in Gillespie's tenure. Jaime Carr, who played at Widener from 2004-07, is the all-time leader in goals (60) and points (136), and she is the single-season recordholder for points (56, 2006) and goals (26, 2006 / 20, 2007). Katie Heritage, who played from 2003-06, is tied for first all-time with 19 career shutouts.

Under Gillespie's direction, women's lacrosse went 26-19 from 2004-06. Goalie Brianna Tarry, who played from 2004-07 and in all three of Gillespie's seasons, is currently fifth all-time in goals against average (11.85). Tarry is also third in career saves (641).

Outside of coaching, Gillespie is an advocate for student-athletes' mental health. She created the H.U.B., located in the Schwartz Center in what was formerly Room 204. The H.U.B. is a safe space where student-athletes can unwind and relax. There are also workshops to allow student-athletes to participate in guided discussions to help cope with athletic-related stress. The H.U.B. has been featured in articles on websites such as higheredjobs.com and yogajournal.com.

Gillespie earned both her undergraduate and master's at Widener. She has an MBA in business administration and management.

To read more about Gillespie, click the link at the top of the article.