Sarah Stoetzel

SARAH STOETZEL

Senior Coach, Personal Trainer, Community Manager

Sarah@SyracuseSweatClub.com

Education, Experience & Qualifications

  • Attended University at Buffalo for Exercise Science
  • Associates Degree from MCC in Liberal Arts
  • ISSA Personal Training Certification
  • CPR & AED Certified

CrossFit Certifications

  • CrossFit Level 2 Trainer
  • CrossFit Judges Course

Competitive Experience

  • 2009 Buffalo 1⁄2 Marathon
  • 2015 Elmira Open Best Female Lifter
  • CrossFit Open: 2013, 2014, 2015 (84th), 2016, 2017 (115th)
  • CNY Affiliate League 4 Season Winner
  • Catalyst Games: 2013, 2014, 2015 (4th), 2017 (1st)
  • CNY Throwdown 2014 (2nd)
  • No Weak Links: 2014 (2nd), 2015 (1st), 2017 (1st)
  • Rochester Heart Games 2015 (1st)
  • Roc City Rumble 2015 (1st), 2016 (1st)
  • Naughty or Nice 2015 (1st)
  • 2015 Flex on the Beach
  • 2016 Wodapalooza
  • 2016 Granite Games
  • 2018 Catalyst Games (2nd)

My fitness journey starts back in high school. I have never been the athlete, never seriously played any sports, certainly not competitively. I have little to no hand eye coordination! I was an over weight teenager just looking to fit in. Through diet and exercise I lost over 30 pounds, and that sparked a love of fitness that would ultimately lead me to this career.

During my second semester at Monroe Community College, one of my classmates got me a job at a local gym. Personal training was just starting to become more mainstream, and in 2007 I was asked to join their team.Eventually, I transferred to University at Buffalo where I continued to personal train and also began teaching group fitness classes.

In 2009 I moved back to Syracuse and got a job at Champions Fitness Center. One of my co workers kept talking about this “CrossFit” thing that I had never heard of. A few months later she told me a new CrossFit gym was opening up the road and they were offering a Groupon! I decided to try it out. That decision changed my life. Instantly, I was hooked! For the first time, I felt like I was using my body the way it was supposed to move. Shortly into my CrossFit experience I was asked if I was interested in training for CrossFit competitively. Wow, a chance to be the athlete I never was. For the first time in my life I felt like I was good at something. CrossFit made me a different person – it allowed me to love my body not for what it looked like, but for what it could do. It made me more confident and made me strive for bigger and better goals both inside and outside the gym.

I began coaching CrossFit, and helped run another local affiliate for over 5 years. I’m so excited and grateful for the opportunity to bring my experiences to CrossFit Syracuse. Dan and Ellen have been such role models in the CrossFit community for so many years. I’m excited to work alongside them and their talented team of coaches. I always tell people the hardest part of CrossFit is simply walking through the door, but if you do it will change your life!