2 freshmen hope to reach varsity team

By: Marc Peters

Posted: 11/12/04

The two teammates often hang out together, watching movies and partying.

And when they row, they want to win.

Sarah Weir and Erica Mahon are two freshmen on the Syracuse rowing team. This weekend, they will race in the Belly of the Carnegie in Princeton, N.J. By the end of the year, the women each want to be bumped up to varsity and make the NCAA Championship meet.

SU head coach Kris Sanford said they're two likely candidates to move up to varsity by spring.

"As a class as a whole, they are all doing very well," Sanford said. "The experience amongst those guys helps the attitude on the team."

Weir, a Canadian, had a hard college transition, starting school in a new, unfamiliar country, but she is taking it in stride.

She rowed for four years with the Ottawa Rowing Club. She was a member of the Ottawa Racing Club's 2003 Female Junior Crew of the Year.

Weir said she committed to SU because Syracuse recruited her and she liked the school's academic programs.

Weir attended Merivale High School in Ontario, which still has fond memories of her.

"She was a reliable, consistent, very supportive teammate who motivated you to do well in a very subtle way," said Clark Adams, the school's athletic director. "She leads by example, and she sets a great example for her teammates. (Her rowing) wasn't highly publicized. We had not had a rowing team for two years. She did not have school-wide support."

Mahon attended East Lyme High School in Niantic, Conn. Besides rowing four years at her school, Mahon was also a member of the Women's Rowing Junior National Development Camp Team in 2003.

"I am really excited for her to be rowing at Syracuse," said Bryan Mahon, Erica's father and a former SU rower. "I definitely think that she is a leader. She is a very good rower, a lot of national and international experience. I loved coaching her. I spent the past four or five summers coaching a team that she was on. After she started rowing, I was excited. I always made sure it was what she wanted to do."

And Weir has Olympic dreams.

"I saw the Olympics in 2000 and wanted to get involved," Weir said.

Before that, though, Weir and Mahon must race Sunday at Princeton.

"I think our freshman group right now is very good," Weir said. "We have a lot of depth. We are pretty strong. We work really well together and we are optimistic. We just have to continue to gel as a team. The future is looking pretty bright."