Friday Spotlight: Rhe Nae Leach, Whittier Women's Basketball
--Courtesy of Whittier Athletics--
Name: Rhe Nae Leach
Institution: Whittier College
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Riverside, Calif.
High School: John W. North
Major: Mathematics and Physics Double Major
Minor: Africana & Black Studies
It didn't take Rhe Nae Leach long to make her mark at the collegiate level, earning All-America (4x100m Relay) and All-Region (4x100-Meter Relay, 100-Meter Dash, 200-Meter Dash, Long Jump) honors last season as a freshman. She also was named the 2022 SCIAC Newcomer of the Year for women's track & field and Freshman of the Year for all of Whittier College Athletics. At the SCIAC Championships last season, Leach finished first in the long jump, anchored Whittier's second-place 4x100-meter Relay team and took bronze in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes.
The two-sport star currently leads the SCIAC in points per game with 19.8 while shooting 45.3 percent, which ranks her sixth among double-figure scorers in the conference while also averaging 3.2 assists. She also ranks fifth in steals per game (2.7) and ninth in rebounds per contest (7.5).
In her first game back since returning from a broken nose, the starting point guard led the Poets to a Dec. 21 win over Whitworth with 29 points, 15 rebounds and three steals, while wearing a bulky mask that restricts her vision. She eclipsed the 24-point mark in seven of her first 12 games of the season and has four double-doubles this season.
Leach, who is double-majoring in Mathematics and Physics and minoring in Africana & Black Studies, aspires to become an astrophysicist. The avid poet, who dabbles in short fiction, plans on publishing a book of her original poetry, with space included for the reader to connect to the poems.