SuburbanOneSports.com recognizes a male and female featured athlete each week. The awards, sponsored by Univest, are given to seniors of good character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of March)
Mia Rosala is living, breathing proof that you really can do it all. The Lower Moreland senior’s resume is a lengthy one. She is a two-year captain of her lacrosse team and also a key member of the field hockey team. An excellent student with a course load of AP classes, Rosala is a member of the National Honor Society. She is vice president of Lower Moreland’s student council, she was a captain of MiniTHON and is president of Students Against Destructive Behavior. For good measure, Rosala also finds times to devote to another of her passions – art, and she and twin sister Roya can lay claim to being featured soloists on Spotify as members of a select middle school group - LionVoice.
Last March, the then LM junior added something unforeseen to her resume that forced her to draw on every ounce of resilience and grit she had, and according to coach Deb Lawlor, Rosala – 10 months removed from surgery to repair a torn ACL and meniscus - has plenty of both. “The infamous words that everybody says, and I think they’re used too loosely, but this really holds true for her is the resiliency and grit to say ‘get out of my way, I’m getting it done. Yes, I need people to support me, I need to lean on people, but I’m not stopping till I get to where I want to be,’” said Lawlor, who coached Rosala in both field hockey and lacrosse.
Where Rosala wanted to be was back on the field for her final high school lacrosse season, and she is back. “It was definitely a mix of emotions going in – I was excited but hesitant,” she said. “Definitely fearful but more grateful that all of the hard work finally paid off. Obviously, wearing the brace, it’s like you are playing a whole other sport because you can’t fully bend your leg, you can’t fully sprint, but then you have to think
about it like – I would much rather be in this position than sitting on the sidelines cheering on my teammates, so it’s really an adjustment, but it’s a worth-it adjustment.”
Rosala recalls what it felt like when – in the fifth game of the season last year against Cheltenham – she went down with a knee injury. “I’m sure every athlete goes through the thought process of every possibility, hoping it would be anything other than a torn ACL, right?” she said. “Initially, I thought I had just hyper-flexed my knee or had dislodged it. When it first happened, I heard it click three times, and I was hoping it had just been something where I could get up and kind of walk it off, and then I realized I was on the ground and could not move. It felt like my kneecap had fully done a 360 around my leg. I thought I had dislocated my kneecap actually. I didn’t even think about a ligament being torn until afterward when I tried walking off the field and every step I took, it fell out of place. Then I realized it was something serious.” The diagnosis confirmed Rosala’s worst fears
Fast forward 10 months, and Rosala is…well, she’s grateful. “Actually, looking back on it now, going into my 10thmonth post op, it was one of the best things that’s ever happened to me,” she said. “Just given that I learned so much about my body and nutrition and taking care of myself as an athlete and prioritizing alone time and growth. Looking back, I really did benefit from it, but wow – when I heard that information, that was earthshattering in that moment.”
Mia plans to keep sports as part of her life next year at Penn State University where she plans to play club lacrosse and major in international political science with her sights set on becoming a lawyer. She is considering a minor in art history or French.“If it’s available, I’d still like to have art as part of my life,” Rosala said. “I’m fluent in French, so I’d like to continue with that language.”
In her final weeks and months at Lower Moreland, Rosala is also doing her best to ensure that the lacrosse program – with dwindling numbers – remains alive and well. The senior captain hopes to ensure that future Lower Moreland athletes will have the same opportunities she had. “Sports has taught me so, so much,” the LM senior said. “I’ve learned endurance, gratitude.One of the quotes I picked up during my recovery was ‘No challenge, no change.’ I am implementing that this season especially with my team as a captain. It’s taught me you can’t grow as a person until you’ve faced true challenges, and I think that sports gives you that, and especially with the community. You build a whole community, you get to lead a whole community, you build a family, and it’s a chance to escape all of the rest of your environment and just be in the moment.”
To read Rosala’s complete profile, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/mia-rosala-00123573
After almost drowning as a toddler and having to be saved as a lifeguard, Reed Harris was immediately enrolled in swim lessons. “My older sister (Serena) is two years older than me,” said Harris, who has no direct recollections of the incident, other than family folklore. “I used to follow her around everywhere. She went into the pool, so I decided that I wanted to go into the pool. I went into the pool, and the lifeguard had to save me.” By grade school, Harris was doing some casual competitive swimming, but he really didn’t take the sport seriously until high school at Wissahickon. After making incremental improvements each year, the Brown University-bound senior returned from the state meet at Bucknell with two gold medals – in the 200 and 500 freestyle -- while being named the meet’s top swimmer.
It’s been quite a journey for Harris. After making districts as a freshman, Harris first appeared on the state stage as a sophomore in 2024. That year, he finished 26th in the 50 freestyle and 10th in the 500 freestyle. In 2025, as a junior, he finished 4th in the 200 freestyle, 6th in the 500 freestyle and 20th as part of the 400 freestyle relay. “It was an absolute blast to see Reed make it to his fullest potential this year,” said
swimming coach Jonathan Faikish. “Reed has had steady success through his high school career. Seeing him now end his high school career with two first place finishes in those events, is nothing short of remarkable. Reed has had continuous progression since starting high school swimming. He made districts in his freshman year, but unfortunately got sick before the meet, and it didn’t go the way we would have wished. Since then, he has continuously been one of the most dedicated and hardest working swimmers, growing both mentally and physically. Reed is a great student both in the classroom as well as the pool, always trying and learning new ways to push himself and his team to become better.”
Harris explained that the jump to high school swimming had a lasting and positive impact on his progression. “Going from swimming 2-3 times per week to swimming eight practices per week, I definitely saw my times drop in the beginning of my high school career,” he said. “It definitely impacted me in terms of getting to districts as a freshman.” And now that’s over?“I’m very satisfied with my swimming career, that I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish,” said Harris. “It’s kind of crazy, after having had made it as a sophomore and watching the finals’ people winning, and then to come back myself and win. It was just a real full-circle moment.” Going into this year’s state meet, Harris was seeded first and quietly confident about bringing home gold. “I definitely had high hopes, and I thought I could definitely drop my times,” he said. “I knew it was possible. But there wasn’t the pressure of, you know, ‘You need to go out there and win gold.’ It was just more of, ‘Go out there and see what you can do.’”
Part of the reason Harris was able to have the right mindset heading into swimming states was that he was already signed, sealed and delivered to continue his swim career in the Ivy League at Brown. It was one of several schools that showed interest after his stellar junior year, but Brown just felt like home. He said: “I just kind of weighed my options enough to go and visit the schools I was talking to, and Brown just had the right fit, both academically and athletically, and I really liked the atmosphere of the team.”
Mitch Harris – Reed’s father - goes from being his son’s biggest fan to his coach during volleyball season, which is happening now. The dynamic is nothing new, as Mitch Harris became the volleyball coach when Reed Harris was a freshman and Wissahickon’s program was first established. On the court, Reed Harris deploys the 6-4 frame that revealed itself post-COVID to his advantage, earning all-league honors. Said Coach Harris: “As ‘Dad’ I am very proud of his play and infused him with a love of volleyball but, as ‘Coach Mitch,’ I have high standards for him as a co-captain. He needs to show dedication, energy and openness to constructive feedback. I am not simply Dad, his cheerleader. Reed has taken this unique situation and matured as a technical player, a person and a leader. He learned to separate the person delivering the feedback from the quality and intent of the feedback itself, which enabled him to elevate his game.”
At Brown, Harris – who boasts a weighted 5.13 GPA - will study applied mathematics and economics for a career in the financial world. He is a member of Wissahickon’s National Honor Society and many other extracurricular activities - Key Club, WissLink and serving as a student representative to the Wissahickon School Board.
To read Harris’ complete profile, please click on the following link: https://suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/reed-harris-00123574
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