Olympian Leach Named Coach at Irvine Valley

Julie Leach has been named coach of the Irvine Valley College women’s cross-country program, Irvine Valley Athletic Director Phil Stanley said Thursday. The program is scheduled to begin this fall.

Leach, an Irvine resident, was a finalist in the women’s 500 meters in the 1976 Olympics at Montreal. A former world-class kayaker, Leach coached the girls’ cross-country and track teams at Corona del Mar High School from 1977 to 1982. She won the women’s division of the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii in 1983.