Player of the Week: Kyra Browne ’26 Talks Mastering the Draw and Breaking Records

Kyra Browne ’26 is a midfielder for the Wesleyan women’s lacrosse team from East Atlantic Beach, N.Y. Browne has helped lead the No. 2 Cards to their best start in program history with six straight dubs to start the year, including three against other nationally ranked teams (No. 9 Franklin & Marshall College, No. 16 Stevens Institute of Technology, and No. 7 Colby). Browne made program history in the Cards’ first matchup of the year against Bates. After leading the team with 75 draw controls in 2025, Browne set the program’s single-game record with 11 draw controls against the Bobcats leading to a massive 18–5 DC margin and anchoring the offensive side for the Cards. The Argus recently sat down with Browne to discuss her hot start, her unique recruiting experience, and the team’s healthy balance between fun and competitiveness.

The Argus: When did you start playing lacrosse?

Kyra Browne: I was in kindergarten—on Long Island, you start pretty young. From the second I was in kindergarten, I had a stick in my hand.

A: Did you play other sports growing up?

KB: Soccer, basketball, and I tried volleyball, but I wasn’t very good at it. I did cross country in middle school, high school basketball for one year, and then I just stuck with lacrosse.

A: What ultimately made you stick with lacrosse?

KB: At home, it’s so competitive. I just loved that. Playing club with girls from different towns and getting to travel over the summer was just something that I couldn’t find with other sports. I was a midfielder, so I was finding both sides of the ball and transitioning from defense to offense. I play attack now, but the draw encompasses that defensive component. Also, the friendships I’ve made playing this sport. I love my teammates.

A: Why did you choose to play for Wesleyan Lacrosse?

KB: I was recruiting during Covid, which was a little bit interesting. A lot of people on my club team were very D-I–oriented. My club coach wanted me to take a look at Wesleyan. I was just keeping my options open, and I hadn’t heard of Wesleyan before. But Erin Trotta ’23, who was a senior when I was a first-year, played for my club team. My club coach was like, “Everyone who plays there loves it, you should look at it.” So I did, and I started going to a couple camps where Head Coach Kim Williams was, and I got to know her. And just having the opportunity to compete for a NESCAC championship, Little Three championship, and even playing in NCAAs is just an opportunity that I couldn’t find anywhere else.

A: What is your favorite, unexpected part about Wesleyan outside of lacrosse?

KB: You meet so many interesting people here that just have hobbies that you never thought that they would. You’ll meet like an insane musician, but when you meet them in class, you’re like, “Oh, they’re such a nice person.” You meet the coolest people at this school.

A: What is your favorite part about this team? 

KB: We keep things light, but we can also turn it on and make it competitive. We want to keep winning, obviously. We push each other. Like someone knocks your pass down, you’re like, ‘You know what? That was a great defense. It’s not like I’m playing so bad. She just had a great play, and I’m gonna lift her up instead of bringing myself down.’

A: Do you have any pre-game rituals or superstitions?

KB: I’m not too picky on pregame superstition. If I can’t do it for some reason one day I don’t want my game to be thrown off. But I listen to certain songs before every game. I listen to “Where the Streets Have No Name” by U2. Then right turf shoe, left turf shoe, that order always. Nothing too crazy. 

A: What goes on during the draw circle? What elements play into a successful draw?

KB: Honestly, before I came to college, I didn’t really realize how strategic it can be. Basically, [the draw] is when the two players on each team put their sticks together, and the ball is in the middle and it’s in the center circle of the field. So there are two pairs lined up around the circle from each team, and the ball is between the two player sticks in the center, and we’re fighting to get the dig. Which is basically using your wrist to get the back of your stick underneath the ball and direct it where you want. You’re moving your circle players to see where the openings are. If you want to get it to yourself, you move them out of the way, and they can box out and create that space for you. Or if you feel like the other player is going to win the direction based on how you feel it in your stick, you can move your players to kind of defend it and pick it up instead. Our circle players this year, Lindsey Diomede ’26 and Bridget Horst ’26, are so awesome. They pick up everything.

I just would also like to shout out “draw galaxy.” It’s the four draw takers. It’s me, Sarah Polumbo ’27, Cannon Martin ’29, and Carly Robinson ’29, and they’ve been awesome. We all challenge each other to get better. Then the circle, which is “draw orbit.” The primary two have been Lindsey and Bridget, and they’ve been so awesome. They’re good with communicating to me when they see something that’s behind me and I can’t see. Or if I have an off one, they’re like, “all right, let’s get this next one.” So shout out to them. And Coach Sam Vitka, she’s been awesome too, helping me make my game a little bit more extensive, rather than just getting it out to the circle and trying to disrupt.

A: Last year was your first year consistently taking the draw. What changed for you? 

KB: It brought a different level of focus to my game. It’s just being able to reset every single time—no two draws really look the same. You’ll have some similar ones throughout the game, but depending on adjustments, you probably have to adjust maybe 10 times throughout the game based on what the other team does. If they throw out a different draw taker, it’s a completely new thing. Certain circle players, we have to try to keep it away from them. The draw sticks are also a big thing, too. Some sticks have a different hold than others and are better for a push draw which is in front of you, or a pull which is behind you. So figuring out how to adjust to things on the fly was the biggest change.

A: Going into the Bates game, the first game of the season, did you expect to break the record?

KB: No, not at all. Our new assistant coach, Sam Vitka, has just been so awesome so far, and she really helped me figure out how to self-draw. The self wasn’t really my go-to last year, but that game, it worked out in our favor, because we had just been repping it out a lot in preseason. I certainly was not expecting to break the record. My prior record, I think, was four a game. I was happy with that—as long as we’re winning them, I don’t care who gets the ball in our unit, because it is a unit. As long as we’re getting the ball, it’s a win. So I didn’t think I was going to break the record. I didn’t even know what it was. 

A: Did you know you had broken the record during the game? If not, how’d you find out?

KB: I did not. I came off at the last whistle and everyone was like, “I think you broke the record.” I was like, “what?” I didn’t even know because I don’t count how many I have during the game. It’s more of a feeling; if I feel like we won more in that game, I’ll be happy. I always look at the stats after to just make sure we’re in a certain percentage. But I had no clue. My teammates just told me.

A: You’ve scored more this season compared to previous years. How does that skill set differ from your draw skill set?

KB: On offense, I find that I’m not thinking as much. It’s more reacting, whereas the draw is a little bit more strategic. Especially when I’m taking it, I’m trying to think about where I’m placing the ball, where I’m placing my circle players, what the other girl is trying to do. Whereas on offense, I’m just trying to beat my defender. Also, our offense is super well-rounded this year; being able to score in different ways is something that our coach emphasizes a lot for everyone. That has opened up a lot of opportunities for me as well.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Leila Feldman can be reached at lfeldman01@wesleyan.edu. 

Ethan Lee can be reached at ejlee@wesleyan.edu.