Canyon Lake student signs with Wagner College

Canyon Lake resident Mikaela Wells has a bright future ahead of her. The Temescal Canyon High School (TCHS) senior water polo goalie recently signed a letter of intent to play water polo for the Seahawks at Wagner College in Staten Island, NY.

The Seahawks play in the NCAA Division 1 as part of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.  Last season, Wagner won the conference championship with an overall season record of 26–11, including an undefeated 14-0 season within the conference. The conference championship was Wagner College’s fourth consecutive title. After winning the conference championship tournament, they defeated UC San Diego in the first round of the NCAA National Championship tournament, before losing to UCLA.  Wagner ended their season ranked number 15 in the nation.

Mikaela was also recruited by LaSalle University in Philadelphia, PA, Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA, Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA and Lindenwold University in St. Charles, MO.

Mikaela said she chose to sign with Wagner College because she loves the school and all the academic and athletic opportunities it has to offer. “I am very excited to be a part of such a successful and competitive Division 1 college team and I cannot wait to attend Wagner next year,” she said.

Kevin Smith, Mikaela’s TCHS water polo coach, said, “In water polo, you have to have a strong defense to be successful. Mikaela is a key factor in our defense as our goalie. Normally goalies are not as aggressive as the field players but Mikaela loves to play aggressively and come out in order to steal the ball.” He added, “I have coached her since her freshman year and it has been a  pleasure to see her develop into a Division 1 college level player. I know that she will take what she has learned at TCHS and expand on that as a player at Wagner College.

Mikaela is very excited to begin her final season as a Titan and for the opportunity to play water polo after high school at a Division 1 school, especially in New York City. After graduation, she plans to pursue a degree in Applied Psychology.

Mikaela is the daughter of Doug and Shannon Wells. Her brother Andrew is a sophomore at TCHS. The family has lived in Canyon Lake for four years.