Casual observers of the Virginia women's lacrosse team may be surprised to see freshman Blair Weymouth only three points behind senior Tyler Leachman in the team statistics. But coach Julie Myers is not in that skeptical group.
Freshman Blair Weymouth's 38 points put her only three points behind Leachman's 41. Weymouth has contributed immediately for Virginia and helped to replace the scoring of the much-decorated alumna Amy Appelt.
Weymouth rose to the challenge of the Virginia squad and earned a starting position before the season began.
After seeing Weymouth at a high school tournament, Myers invited her to a Virginia lacrosse camp.
"We knew that the better the competition got, the better Blair played," Myers said. "She really rose to the challenge and thrived when the competition was tight."
Her biggest asset on the field is her considerable athleticism, which has earned her rave reviews from the coaching staff. That, coupled with a shooter's touch, has resulted in 27 goals so far this season for Weymouth.
"She's so athletic," Myers said. "She's probably a little quicker and faster than I remembered her from camp. But her ability to score and to make an offense work has just been an awesome addition to the attack."
Athleticism and lacrosse run in the family for Weymouth. Her dad coached her high school team at The Holderness School in New Hampshire and also played in college. Her sister, Channing, has won two Division III national championships in lacrosse at Middlebury and picked up two more national titles in field hockey.
Despite having already achieved such a high level of play, Weymouth is still refining her game.
"Every day there's something new that I learn," Weymouth said.
Opponents are starting to catch on to Weymouth and have been putting their best defenders on the freshman. This has slowed her down somewhat from the point totals she was piling up in the beginning of the season.
"I think she's just adjusting to how the defense is now going to play," Myers said. "She's going to have to work a little bit harder to get some of those looks, but she's going to find her way, and we're going to help her out."
With so much early success, the comparisons to Appelt, a former Tewaaraton trophy winner and arguably the Virginia program's best player ever, have already started for the freshman. Weymouth's 38 points midway through the season have put her in a position to threaten Amy Appelt's freshman scoring record of 74 points.
Weymouth has heard about the record but hasn't dwelled on it.
"I don't know the number," Weymouth said. "After our game against Maryland, someone was saying I was the next Amy Appelt. She's definitely a great person to look up to, but I think we have totally different styles."
Myers said she sees tremendous potential in Weymouth. The most important thing for Weymouth is to accumulate experience playing at the college level and become more familiar with the game, Myers added.
"I think when she gets college confidence and hits her stride, its going to be unbelievable," she said.
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