Laura Kate Galbreath ’30 is a 2023 USA Cycling Amateur and Junior Road National Championships champion who is hoping to find community at Elon University’s campus.
When Laura Kate Galbreath ‘30 passed the finish line at the 2023 USA Cycling Amateur and Junior Road National Championships, she collapsed onto the grass.
“Everyone was like, ‘Good job! We’re so proud of you!’” she said. “And I couldn’t even really respond to them because I was so tired.”
Galbreath won third in the road race, fourth in the time trial and fifth in the criterium. When she passed the finish line, she had a crowd of supporters there waiting for her.
“It was so exciting,” she said. “Everyone was cheering and really excited.”
At Elon’s New Student Convocation on Aug. 22, Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Randy Williams honored Galbreath as one of four notable students in the new class of 2030.
However, Galbreath’s accomplishments go beyond cycling. She taught young girls mountain biking through Girls Riding Together (GRiT), a national initiative by the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, during her high school years.
Her experience with mountain biking started when she was a young girl. Her father taught both her and her older sister when they were kids.
“For a long time, that was something we could do together,” she said, “which was really like a special way for us to bond because it’s not a normal sport for young girls to be into.”
Cycling also started with her dad’s coaching, but her journey had its obstacles.
During her second year with cycling, she discovered an extra bone in her foot. It caused significant pain during training, leading to surgical removal. That pushed her progress back by two years.
“I felt like everyone else was progressing,” she said, “I was just kind of being left behind, so that was difficult.”
Then, by her junior year of high school, Galbreath says she developed an autoimmune disorder, the name of which she doesn’t yet know.
“It’s undiagnosed,” she said. “I’ve seen every type of doctor and specialist, and they’re like, ‘We don’t know what to label this.’”
The disorder restricted her daily life. She was fatigued daily and found it difficult to even leave the house.
Despite those struggles, she achieved notable scores in her cycling competitions. Her proudest moment was winning third in the USA competition road race, which was difficult to get through.
“There’s one defining moment where it was really difficult,” she said, “I had to push myself really hard in order to get third, which was really good.”
With Galbreath’s journey to Elon, she was looking for a school that felt personal. The class sizes and caring atmosphere with teachers drew her in.
“Having that personal connection with the professors is really special,” she said. “They all feel very approachable.”
She is coming into Elon undecided on her major, but she is considering exercise science, environmental science and business.
Adding to her long list of accomplishments, she recently became the vice-president for club cycling at Elon. Within the club, she is hoping to make partnerships and expand cycling’s reach.
Her main goal now, though, is to make connections on campus.
“I want to take away really good friendships, experiences, relationships with professors and other students,” she said. “I just want to build a really good community here.”