Allegheny College Athletics

Lona Lesh can be remembered not just as a successful coach at Allegheny College, but a true trailblazer that helped lay the foundation and pave the way for women to not only have opportunities, but to excel. Lesh was hired by the College as an assistant professor of physical education during the 1972-73 school year, shortly after the passing of Title IX. Part of her charge at the time was to, "organize a program of women's intercollegiate sports at Allegheny." In 1974-75, she led the women's varsity tennis team to a 5-4 record and saw softball added to the offerings for women. The following year, the first official competition schedules for women's basketball, volleyball, tennis and swimming & diving were developed. It was also during the 1975-76 year that Lesh submitted documentation on structure and policies for women's athletics at Allegheny and served as a founding administrator of the Women's Keystone Conference (WKC). From that point forward, Lesh became known as the "Director of Women's Athletics" and saw Allegheny claim WKC titles in tennis and basketball, while sending seven qualifiers to the Eastern Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (EAIAW) Championships. By 1979-80, Lesh was promoted to Associate Director of Athletics and Allegheny participated in six women's varsity sports, before women's cross country was elevated as Lesh's behest in 1980-81.