The Sturgis High School Athletic Hall of Fame inducted its Class of 2013 Saturday evening, which included Charles “Chuck” Darby, Marcia (Dresser) Inman, Teresa (Wood) Horn, Patricia (Griffith) Langanis and Erika (Melchi) Rozema.
JoeInsider.com caught up with Rozema shortly before she joined a number of accomplished former Trojans athletes in the Hall. Rozema graduated from Sturgis in 1988 and played golf, tennis and volleyball all four years, earning 12 varsity letters.
As a senior, she was named to the all-conference first team in golf. Rozema finished with a 102-9 record in tennis, which tied the school record for victories. Along the way, she collected three Twin Valley Conference titles, three regional championships and had three top-eight performances at the state tournament, including a runner-up finish as a junior at No. 3 singles.
Rozema’s sophomore and junior years netted first-team all-conference and third-team all-state honors in volleyball, with the Trojans winning the Class B state championship her senior year. She was rewarded with another spot on the All-TVC First Team, all-state first team and Michigan Dream Team. She set season records with 348 blocks and 660 kills and ended her career with 786 blocks and 1,603 kills — records that still stand. In the summer of 1988 She accompanied the SHS State Champion volleyball team that was invited to play in Russia and went on to play college volleyball at Western Michigan University before transferring and finishing her career at the University of Iowa.
“To this day, when I reflect back on my experience in high school sports, I consider it one of the best times in my life,” Rozema said. “I have my coaches, teammates and parents to thank for that. I thank my coaches for their guidance, my teammates for their camaraderie and my parents for their support.
“Runner-up in the state championship for tennis, winning the state title in volleyball and a trip to the former Soviet Union to participate in a series of goodwill volleyball games were the highlights of my high school sports career. Thank you to those involved in inducting me to the Hall of Fame and for awarding me with such an outstanding honor.”