“I would not have been able to find the passions I have without Loomis. The courses are specific and advanced in every single subject, and Loomis does a great job helping students find their niche subject areas …[and] helping each student become the best version of the person they envision.”

Orion Browne ’24

Take the Leap

When Orion Browne ’24 was born in Plymouth, N.H., the night sky was lit up by the Orion constellation. Thus, his first name, which is fitting since he became one of the brightest stars in the history of track & field at Loomis Chaffee.

Orion earned All-America status at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in March of 2024 with his 48-foot, 3 ½-inch triple jump, becoming the highest Loomis Chaffee boys finisher at a national championship meet. In the outdoors season, he helped lead the Pelicans to an undefeated regular season, a Founders League title, and a second-place finish in the Division 1 New England championship meet where he won the triple jump.

“I never thought track & field would have such a big impact on my life. But when I first met the coaching staff — Coach [Scott] Purdy and Coach [Justin] Daniels — they really helped me gain a love for the sport and pushed me to really develop that passion,” Orion said.

Orion will bring all that jumping ability to Yale, where he will compete in track & field for the Bulldogs. Yet he brings so much more, including his leadership skills and a smile as bright as his future. Orion was a prefect as a junior and a resident assistant as a senior. He was a Pelican Support Network (PSN) mentor and was recognized for his scholarship and citizenship with a Founders Prize in his junior year.

“I would not have been able to find the passions I have without Loomis,” Orion said. “The courses are specific and advanced in every single subject, and Loomis does a great job helping students find their niche subject areas …[and] helping each student become the best version of the person they envision.”

Orion said he would like to be a mechanical engineer one day.

“I love math and I love physics, and I was trying to figure out how to do both,” Orion says. “And as a prefect and an RA, I think Loomis helped me realize I really like helping people. I think mechanical engineering, when used right, can be a great tool to create things to help a lot of people. So ideally after college, I want to design prosthetics to be more affordable and more accessible or work on public transportation to make it more efficient for large cities.”

One of the people Orion helped at Loomis was Anthony Ndika, who had never been to the United States when he arrived for his sophomore year from Nigeria. They started as roommates and quickly became friends. Anthony would spend holidays and other times with Orion and Orion’s parents.

“He is a brother to me ... and I can call him a brother the rest of my life,” Orion said. “My family is super welcoming. They could see he was a passionate kid, loved a lot of different things, and was interested in exploring all of them. And they were interested in helping him pursue his interests.

Orion said his mother is an incredibly welcoming person. And she gives good advice.

“After I had a really good competition,” she told me, ‘Don’t get too high, don’t get too low. You’re going to have bad days and good days, and it’s about being present and focusing on the moment.’”

Listening to him describe the feeling he gets in the triple jump sounds like he has heeded that advice and is very present in the moment.

“It’s a hop, a skip, and a jump ... and the better you get at it, the better it feels,” Orion said. “So, as you jump farther you are in the air longer, and that just feels like time slows down, freezes for a moment, and it's a beautiful feeling. When you learn the technique, you get stronger and faster, and you just feel like everything is calm around you. That’s one of my favorite things in the world.”

Quick Takes

College: Yale University

Favorite snack: chocolate chip cookies

Favorite meal: Salmon, rice, kale. “I love my rice.”

Favorite place on campus: Batchelder Hall. “Sophomore year I knew that as a senior I wanted to be an RA in Batch, and I got to do it.” Many of his friends lived on the third floor with him.

If you could invite one guest to dinner, past or present, who would it be and why? Kawhai Leonard. “He’s my favorite basketball player of all time. ... He’s known to stay calm and be serious, and I’d like to ask him how he does it. I’d just like to get to know him.”

Hobbies: “I enjoy learning math on my own. I love to ski in the winter in my free time.”

On his bucket list: The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. “It always has been a place I wanted to see, a totally different habitat than what I’m accustomed to growing up in New Hampshire with mountains, bobcats, and bears. I would love to see the fish and the coral.”