Samantha Leach, a graduate of Miami Trace High School, was hired as the new girls basketball coach at Washington High School at Thursday morning’s board meeting.
She follows John Persinger, who coached the Lady Lions for the past four seasons.
Leach was a stand-out player for Miami Trace, being named First Team, All-Ohio in 2006 and 2007.
Leach then went on to Saint Francis University to play basketball there for four years, helping lead her team to two conference championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances. She was also named team captain in 2011.
During her career at Saint Francis she was also named First Team All-Conference in 2011, and Second Team All-Conference in 2009 and 2010.
In 2011 Leach received the Saint Francis University Wallace Award for the Outstanding Female Athlete. She then went on to play in Europe in 2012 before returning back to Ohio. Leach has been teaching at Philo Middle School and coaching the j-v team at Philo High School the last three years. She also coached middle school girls soccer for two years while at Philo.
“We could not be more happy with our selection of Samantha as our new head girls basketball coach,” Washington City Schools Athletic Director Jon Creamer said. “We had some great applicants and Samantha really shined. We are looking forward to her building a program here at Washington City Schools for many years to come. Samantha brings with her a wealth of playing experience, and understanding of the game of basketball and we are very excited for all of that to be put into practice here.”
