Accolades and honors come through hard work, aspirations and sometimes a little luck. They also bring responsibility and put leadership on that person's shoulders. Quiet and unassuming yet confident and competitive, Virginia women's lacrosse junior midfielder Blair Weymouth has excelled both on the field and as a team leader.
Entering the season, Virginia coach Julie Myers said Weymouth is "good for a lot of goals and is considered one of the best players in the country."
That assessment has proven true, both during Weymouth's first two years and this season. As a freshman, Weymouth was named to All-American squads of several national publications, on either the second or third teams. Also in that 2006 season, she was named the consensus national Rookie of the Year, as well as being honored as ACC Rookie of the Year and earning a spot on the All-ACC Team. Starting all 19 games that season, Weymouth finished second on the team with 70 points, tallying 49 goals and helping on 21 assists.
During her sophomore campaign, Blair was able to improve upon her impressive rookie season. She finished second on the squad again in points with 86, finding the net 58 times and assisting her teammates 28 times. This performance was sufficient enough to earn her a spot as a First-Team All-American for several national publications and on the All-ACC Team again. Starting all 23 games for her team, Weymouth tallied eight hat tricks for the second consecutive season. This included a season-high five goals in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Princeton, highlighting a clutch performance.
The All-American is quick to deflect these honors away from herself and toward her teammates and coaches.
"You can't really put those awards on me in particular," Weymouth said. "I've played three years now with some phenomenal lacrosse players, so to take the credit for those awards is not something I'm going to do or would do. So I think it reflects the type of people that I've been playing with and how well we've worked together."
Meyers noted Weymouth deserves the honors she has received and has handled the praise well.
"She's done a lot in just two years of college to actually earn those awards," Myers said. "She's a phenomenal player and she leads by example. She just makes things happen and helps people play better. She's a huge piece of our team."
Weymouth, however, considers herself lucky to be able to play at Virginia. The junior first played lacrosse competitively during her freshman year at The Holderness School in Holderness, N.H. She was recruited by Myers after attending a lacrosse camp at Virginia before her senior season.
For four of her elementary school years, Weymouth lived in Virginia, where she first learned of the University.
"I had always heard about U.Va. and it's been a pretty dominant lacrosse school," Weymouth said. "To be honest with you, I had no expectations of going here, so I was really lucky and it all worked out."
Since Weymouth attended school in New Hampshire, where she said, lacrosse isn't very popular, Weymouth's blood may also explain her skills on the field.
Weymouth's father played collegiate lacrosse at the University of New Hampshire, her brother played for one year at Bates and her sister -- whom Weymouth said was the person she admired most in the sport -- played at Middlebury College.
The political science major has already made an impact on the field this season despite battling a bad deep-bone bruise on her left ankle. After missing the team's first two games of the season, Weymouth came off the bench to score five goals in a victory against Syracuse. She then racked up four goals and two assists in the team's win against Penn State and netted four goals and three assists in this past weekend's victory against North Carolina after resting against William & Mary.
"She took a few days off last week and we need to really be conservative with her, mostly in practice, so she can go all out in games," Myers said.
Weymouth has done just that so far this season in the games she has played, scoring 13 goals and adding five assists to tie for second on the team in points.
According to Myers, Weymouth, when healthy, is a key piece of this team's performance, and her experience will be very valuable in the homestretch of the regular season.
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