BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Wheaton College (Ill.) – which eliminated its varsity women’s water polo program following the 2012 season – inducted former Thunder athlete Michelle (Anderson) Rosa into the institution’s Athletics Hall of Honor in 2021.
The first Wheaton women’s water polo player to earn All-America recognition she rates as the program’s all-time leading goal scorer with 216 career markers.
A member of the school’s water polo team when it began as a club sport in 2003 and for the squad’s inaugural three seasons as an intercollegiate varsity sport (2004-06), she earned Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Division III All-America Honorable Mention (2005) and Second Team (2006) All-America recognition.
A two-time conference Most Valuable Player, he was named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division At-Large Team. She scored 84 goals as a senior in 2006 , averaging 3.3 goals per game. As a junior, she recorded 72 goals, with an average of 2.4 goals per game. In 2004 she averaged 4.6 goals per game, tallying 60 goals in 13 games.
“As exciting as all of the wins, goals, and success were, what I learned to cherish and enjoy was building relationships with the teammates and learning how to work together regardless of strengths and personalities,” she reflected at the time of her induction.
“I learned that life is so much more than just the games. We can enjoy life so much more if we learn to enjoy both the big and small moments.”
Information courtesy Wheaton College (Ill.) Athletics Communications
