Wellesley’s E.G. LeBre Named 2018 National Collegiate Archery Coach of the Year
Following a 2017–18 campaign that saw eight Wellesley archers compete at the U.S. National Indoor Championships and one, Karley Bussow ’18, qualify for the U.S. National Outdoor Collegiate Championships, which took place in Newberry, Fla., this May, Wellesley Archery Coach E.G. LeBre was named the National Collegiate Archery Coach of the Year.
LeBre, who also coaches locally at Brandeis, MIT, and Olin and works with the U.S. Paralympic archery team at the national and international level, is a mainstay in the national archery community. He serves on USA Archery’s Collegiate Archery Program Committee and is the Grassroots (non-Junior Olympic Archery Development) representative on USA Archery’s board of directors. He is committed to growing the sport at every level and building archery programs, such as the club team at Wellesley that saw all four of the squad’s first-year archers elected to next year’s club executive board.
Archery is one of nine club sports available at Wellesley through the Department of Physical Education, Recreation, and Athletics (PERA). PERA provides students with fitness and wellness opportunities from the beginner to the advanced level and in addition to archery offers club sports teams in equestrian, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, rugby, sailing, squash, water polo, and Ultimate Frisbee. Each program provides leadership opportunities and the potential for students to represent Wellesley in collegiate competition.
The squash program competed at the club level for the first time in 10 years in 2017–2018 and found continued success through a transitional season. The annual Seven Sisters Championship was a highlight for the team, as the Blue earned a victory over their sibling rivals from Smith College, while Meredith Curry ’18 and club president Lumi Kinjo ’19 were both named to the All-Tournament Team. The tournament also provided an opportunity for the team to build relationships with other collegiate women’s squash players at Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Vassar.
While both archery and squash thrived this year, the water polo team made history as the only women’s college team ever to enter the National Club Water Polo Championships, hosted this year by the University of Washington at Mt. Hood Community College. During their run at nationals, the team won a game, defeating Grinnell College (Iowa), 8-3, and saw Briana Miller ’19 named player of the game after a four-goal effort. The victory propelled the Blue to their best result in club history, as the team placed 12th following consecutive 15th-place finishes in Wellesley’s last two trips to nationals.
For more information about the club sports and recreational opportunities available at Wellesley, visit wellesley.edu/athletics/recreation/clubs.
Caption: Karley Bussow ’18 and Wellesley archery coach E.G. LeBre prepare for the U.S. National Outdoor Collegiate Championships, which took place in Newberry, Fla., this May.
