Commitment Profile
Lane Leschly Heads to Harvard
by Blair Henley, 25 August 2015
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Tennis runs in Lane Leschly's blood.
His grandfather, Jan, was a star player from Denmark who reached a world ranking of No. 10 in 1967. His father, Mark, competed for
Harvard and also spent time on the pro tour. So it wasn't a surprise when Leschly showed a natural affinity for the game at five years old. Team sports like baseball and soccer did their best to lure him away, but after winning a national tennis event at age 12, he became a one-sport athlete in hopes of playing collegiately one day. It didn't hurt that he had an experienced private coach at his disposal.
"My dad has been my coach pretty much my whole life," said the 17-year-old Blue Chip recruit. "We've tried to figure out how to set apart being the dad from being the coach on the court. There have been tough practices, but overall I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him. Once we're off the court, Dad is back to being Dad."
That father-son coaching relationship helped Leschly emerge as a top competitor in the USTA's Northern California section. The Atherton native strives for "patient aggression" on the court, a gamestyle that helped him claim a top 10 recruiting ranking in 2014. But that stellar season wasn't without speed bumps. A mishap with a surfboard on a family vacation to Costa Rica left him with a concussion that forced a two-month injury layoff during the key summer months.
"It was my first time surfing, and I wiped out on a huge beginner's surfboard," he said, laughing as he remembered the incident. "I was a little out of it and the next thing I know, my board comes down and smacks me on the head."
Surfing may not be his strong suit, but Leschly has plenty of other talents and accolades to his name. In addition to racking up several sportsmanship awards, he has won two gold medals in the National Latin Exam and an Excellence in Chemistry distinction while maintaining a near-perfect grade point average. On the court, he has yet to lose a singles match for the
Menlo School Knights as he enters his senior season.
Leschly has also created an ongoing charity event called Aces4Kidz benefitting East Palo Alto Tennis & Tutoring, a local program for low-income students. He and his Menlo teammates collect pledges for each ace they hit during the tennis season. After striking 345 in 2015, they raised over $20,000.
