Mercyhurst University Women's Lacrosse

In August 2024, Rost was named the new Head Coach of the Mercyhurst Rowing team.   Rost is no stranger to Mercyhurst, having spent seven years as part of the Rowing program, helping mold the program into what it is today. Working hard with the Men's Heavyweight program, Rost also assisted the Men's Lightweight and Women's teams.   While with the Lakers, he helped coach the 2021 Women's team that was the NCAA runner-up and the 2022 Women's team that won the NCAA title.   Before his time at Mercyhurst, Rost was an Assistant Coach for the Men's Rowing team at Colgate University. He's a graduate of John Carroll University, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science. He was also a member of the Rowing and Hockey teams at John Carroll. 

Weaver is entering her third season as the head coach at Mercyhurst in 2026. In her second year (2025), she saw the team through their first season at the Division I level. The Lakers went 6-9, with a 6-3 record in NEC play. Weaver began her time on the sidelines in 2020 when she started as an assistant coach for Holy Names Academy in Seattle before making her way to Erie for the first time in 2022. She took on the role of volunteer assistant coach for the Lakers for the 2022 season while also manning the helm at Fairview High School as the girl’s lacrosse head coach. Weaver spent the 2023 season as an assistant coach at Allegheny College. She helped the Gators to a 14-5 record in which they finished 8-1 in the PAC while making it to the conference championship game. After working primarily with draw specialists, the team saw their draw controls raise 6%, showing Weaver’s ability to make an impact right away. Her tutelage went further than the field as she also proved instrumental in the team’s 3.87 GPA, showcasing Weaver’s intent on developing student-athletes. A native of Ashburn, Virginia, Weaver graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2017 with a bachelors degree in Biology. During her four years, she saw action as an attacker, midfielder, and defender, showcasing her versatility and team first mentality.

Former Skidmore Assistant coach and Temple University rower, Christopher Luff has joined the Mercyhurst Rowing Staff as the new women's assistant rowing coach. 'Its an exciting time in the Mercyhurst athletic department. I'm excited to help build this team to a brand-new standard' Luff is coming to the Lakers after his second summer coaching with the Ready Set Row — Elite Men's Team.

Kersten Daneau joins the Mercyhurst coaching staff in 2024 as the Defensive Coordinator to help guide the Lakers through their first year of Division I competition. She comes from Southern New Hampshire University, where she has spent the past 3 years as an assistant coach working closely with the defensive and goalkeeping units. Daneau’s expertise in goalie training and defensive tactics helped her previous team achieve unprecedented success, including consecutive playoff appearances and multiple all-conference selections, along with multiple appearances in the Division II IWLCA Coaches Poll.  She also served as a head goalie coach for the New Hampshire Tomahawks Lacrosse Club from 2022-2024. While at SNHU, Daneau helped develop 6 All-East Region selections, 9 All-conference selections, and 3 all-rookie selections. In addition to this, she mentored multiple student-athletes who earned conference defensive player of the week and goalkeeper of the week on multiple occasions, as well as an IWLCA national defensive player of the week in 2024. Before her stint at SNHU, Daneau was a four-year letter winner at Guilford College from 2017-2021. She started 30 games which included two COVID-impacted seasons. In 2020, she led the Quakers to a program-best 5-0 start in what was projected to be one of the most successful seasons in recent history before the season was halted by the pandemic. During that season she finished with a .463 save percentage and ranked second in the conference in goals-against average (7.51), while also spending time in the NCAA leaderboards on that merit. In 2021 she finished third in the conference with 113 goals against, leading the Quakers to their first quarterfinal appearance since 2016.   Daneau graduated from Guilford in 2021 with high honors, double majoring in exercise science and health sciences. She was the recipient of the Outstanding Exercise and Sport Science Major/Sports Medicine Track Award and was named Guilford’s Most Outstanding Student-Athlete in 2021.