Over the years, lacrosse has been considered an East Coast dominated sport, and it would have been easy to accept that playing at the club level was the ceiling for West Coast institutions. Lea Crusey didn't take the easy way, though, joining the club team at CMS as a first-year, and advocating for the sport to elevate to varsity level throughout her time at Claremont McKenna. That dream became a reality her senior year in 2003, raising the ceiling for the sport in the process. On the field, she led the Athenas to 10 wins in their inaugural season, as well as an impressive one-goal loss in their first-ever game to Bates, an established East Coast program. Crusey earned all-region honors in her one varsity season and was inducted into the Ted Ducey CMS Hall of Fame for her leadership efforts in 2017.