Meredith Buzzi '03 has been the head coach of Kenyon College's Women's Lacrosse team since 2007. To say that her tenure in Ohio has been successful would be an understatement. During six full seasons coaching, she has compiled a record of 65-30, making her the winningest coach in the program's 40-year history.

Last season Buzzi guided her team to its first conference championship. For her efforts she was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the third time and the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year for the second.

The Williston, Vt., native was a standout lacrosse player at Colby-Sawyer while majoring in Communication Studies. “I kind of stumbled into lacrosse in high school,” said Buzzi. “It turns out that I was good enough to be a college player, and now it's given me everything in my life, from friendships to traveling all over the nation and the world. It's a game that I just want to be part of and give back to, because it gave me everything I've got.”

Buzzi is particularly thankful to former Colby-Sawyer coach Jill Donovan for helping to guide her career, which involved more than simply recruiting her to play lacrosse. Four years after graduating, Buzzi was the assistant women's lacrosse coach at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., when Donovan, the outgoing coach at Kenyon, contacted her. She asked if Buzzi was interested in moving to a coaching position. Buzzi leaped at the chance to follow in her former coach's footsteps.

Last season's championship was particularly sweet for Buzzi. In their two previous appearances in the big game, Kenyon had faced Wooster and lost. "They had beaten us at their field and beaten us at our field," said Buzzi. Facing their archrival again in the championship game, the coach and her staff inspired her players with a “heroes and villains” storyline. The third time proved to be the charm as the Kenyon women topped Wooster 14-9 and earned themselves a place in the NCAA Division III tournament. “Besides my graduation day from Colby-Sawyer, that was probably the best day of my life,” said Buzzi.

by Mike Gregory, Assistant Director of Advancement Communications