2004 XC Recap:
Desiree was a consistent top 5 for the team that would finish 17th at the NCAA Championships. After missing the Big West Championships due to illness, Leek bounced back very well to finish 23rd at the Western Regional Championships. Leek graduates with a legacy of an unparalleled work ethic for her teammates to emulate. Desiree came into the program as a fairly low-level recruit and had a very unimpressive freshman season that did not even feature her in the top 7 of an average team. However, she bought into doing heavy mileage and finishes her career with 2 All-Conference honors in two Big West Championships, one All-West Region honor, two Conference Championships, and two trips to the NCAA meet..

2004 Track Recap:
Leek finished 15th in the NCAA National Championship 5,000m final, the highest individual finish for the Gauchos in 2004...won the Big West 5,000m title and was a runner-up in the 1,500m at both the Big West and Cal-Nevada Championships...set personal bests of 4:26.18 for 1,500m and 16:33.74 for 5,000m that rank 4th and 3rd respectively on the All-time Gaucho lists...won Big West Challenge Cup 3,000m in a personal best 9:57.50.

2003 XC Recap:
Leek led the team in her first two meets of the season, winning the UCSB Lagoon Open in 17:50 and finishing 3rd at the Riverside Invitational in a 5k XC PR 17:38. Took 4th at the Big West Championship, completing a Gaucho sweep of the top four places and earning All-Conference honors for the second straight season.

2003 Track Recap:
Leek's sophomore season was unfortunately cut short by injury after setting a personal best of 4:33.18, to win the 1500m at the Cal Poly Invitational.

2002 XC Recap:
Earned All-Conference honors with 5th place finish at Big West Conference Championship. Set 5k XC PR at UCSB Open with 2nd place finish time of 18:02.

2002 Track Recap:
After a disappointing cross country season, Leek bounced back in strong fashion to become one of the team's top distance runners. Concluded her season taking 6th in the Big West 1500m event and doubled back to setting a personal record in the 5k of of 17:52 in 9th place.

2001 XC Recap:
As a freshman, Desiree did not make the team's top 7 but placed 61st at the Cal Poly Invitational and 29th at the CS Fullerton Invite. Top 5k time of 19:54.

High School:
In 1999, led La Jolla High School to a 4th place team finish at the Div 2 CIF State Cross Country Championships by finishing 12th with a time of 18:54, under the instruction of coach Dorman at La Jolla High School.

Personal Info:
Desiree is an outstanding performer in the classroom as a Biopsychology major...won the 2003-04 Golden Eagle Ring Award for the holding the highest student-athlete grade point average (3.94) at UCSB...also named to Academic All-Big West teams in both cross country and track & field for 2003-04...parents are Terry and Brigitte Leek.