Once Irie Gourde set his sights on attending Brandeis University, his focus was on academics and pursuing his economics degree. Little could he have foreseen that he would graduate as one of the most prolific athletes in the history of the Judges’ men’s track and field program.

A NON-TRADITIONAL ROUTE TO TRACK 

“I did some exercising and joined club soccer briefly as a freshman. I was putting a lot more into it than I was getting out of it though,” he recalled. He did find a niche in a very different sport, archery. “It interested me during the club fair at orientation and my step-grandfather was a hunter. I had shot once or twice and it seemed like a fun twist on that athletic event,” Gourde commented.

He was shooting with hand-me-down equipment and enjoying it to the point that he attended formal tryout shoots. His tryout scores qualified to compete with the team, which he did for 1 ½ years, acquiring his own equipment over time.

Eventually, academics dominated his time. “School was ramping up. In addition to my economics classes, I was also taking computer science and English,” he said. “I couldn’t find the time to participate in archery as well and stopped toward the end of my junior year.”

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