It was only fitting that two friends would sign their national letters of intent together surrounded by their families and classmates. That’s exactly what Isabel Treanor and Lois Garlow did on Wednesday morning at Mount St. Mary Academy in the Town of Tonawanda.
Dozens of teammates surrounded the two seniors in the school’s library as the young athletes put pen to paper while their parents and school officials looked upon.
Treanor will be attending Nova Southeastern University located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the Fall on an athletic and academic scholarship. Treanor has been rowing for about four years, starting out at the West Side Rowing Club and then as a Freshman at the Mount. Her coach Kevin Nugent described Treanor as a “great athlete, dedicated to fitness.”
Among some of Treanor’s accomplishments during her career were winning the 2017 Shuffle Off to Buffalo E-Regatta and then later that year she won the NYS Scholastic Rowing Championships, which secured her a spot to compete in the National Championship. She would qualify again in 2018 after placing third at the NYS Scholastics.
“I had a lot of support here from all of my classmates and teachers,” Treanor said. “Teachers would always offer to stay late to help me with my grades so that I can keep doing this.”
When Treanor first came to the Mount, the rowing team was just a year old. What prompted the school into adding the sport? When Holy Angels closed, many underclassmen transferred to the Mount and wanted to continue competing at the private school level. Nugent, who has been involved in the sport for the past 13 years, was the head coach at Holy Angels before it closed. He has been the head coach of the rowing team at Mount St. Mary’s ever since.
It took just one visit for Treanor to convince herself that NSU was the place for her. A D-II school that is among the top programs in the country. The Sharks have finished in the Top-10 each of the past two years at the Head of the Charles Regatta, a prestigious event in Boston, MA.
Treanor considered a few other schools such as the University of Tennessee, Drexel and Eastern Michigan, but Ft. Lauderdale offered what she was looking for.
Kassie Moss, a 2017 graduate from Grand Island high school is a freshman at NSU and a member of the rowing team. Moss and Treanor rowed together at West Side. On her official visit to SNU, Moss hosted Treanor. They will become teammates once again next fall.
Treanor will study biology.
Lois Garlow verbally committed to Coastal Carolina when she was only a freshman. She never wavered from her first intuition and made it official Wednesday. Garlow has received numerous awards during her two years at the Mount in both lacrosse and basketball (Garlow spent her freshman and sophomore years at a high school in Utah).
Last winter in basketball she was named to the Top-25 Girls Basketball team by WNY Athletics and that spring she was named the Monsignor Martin League defensive player of the year, All Catholic, High School All-American and one of Channel 7’s Super Athletes of the Week. She has recorded over 100 goals and set the Mount St. Mary’s single season school record for goals (95) and assists (52).
Garlow received an athletic scholarship from the Chanticleers.
Last weekend Garlow was in Rochester attempting to try out for the Haudenosaunee Nationals, who will be competing in the 2019 U19 Federation of International (FIL) World Championship in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada next August.
Ronald (Ronnie) Davis was named head coach of the Haudenosaunee women’s team last month. He is also the head coach for the women’s team at Monroe Community College I Rochester, NY.
Garlow made the cut and is excited about the opportunity. “Coach Ron came up to me and said he wants me to be one of the leaders on the team,” Garlow said.
“This feels different, there is a lot of weight off of our shoulders,” Garlow said when asked about making her commitment to Coastal Carolina official. “It’s also a little scary too, we’re going to college.”
Garlow will be focusing on just lacrosse when she arrives on campus. She talked with her coaches about possibly playing basketball too but that would be too much of a commitment for her. Coastal Carolina is close to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and while looking out the school window today watching the snow fall, Garlow was reminded why she chose to become a Chanticleer.
Both student-athletes spoke about how much they enjoyed the Mount these past four years and that the school has really prepared them for the next journey.
Prior to arriving at Mount St. Mary’s both girls attended DeSales Catholic School together.
Feature Pic Courtesy of Joan McDonough – MSM Thunder PR
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