The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Athletics Department’s highest individual honor, the Jack Bonham Award was presented to Emma van Rossum of women’s water polo and Jakob Thelle of men’s volleyball at the annual H Awards on April 17.
Since 1974, the Bonham Award is given annually to the top male and female senior student-athlete who “best exemplifies the ideals for which Jack Bonham stood for in the areas of athletic excellence, academic achievement, public service, leadership and character.”
Emma van Rossum
From the moment van Rossum stepped onto the Mānoa campus, she made an immediate impact on the Rainbow Wahine. In the pool, van Rossum is one of the top defensive players in the country and this year was named to the Cutino Award Watch List as one of the nation’s top 20 collegiate players, a recognition few defensive players receive.
In the classroom, van Rossum has made the dean’s list every semester and is set to earn her master’s degree in marketing in May 2023. She received her bachelor’s in economics in May 2021 in just three years and earned ACWPC All-Academic honors in 2021.
“In the past decade, I have only nominated one other water polo student-athlete,” head coach Maureen Cole said. “To be nominated for this award is an honor in itself. Emma stands by every virtue that this award stands for. She is the absolute foundation to the success of our program and where we are today because of her.
“Every single team we play will take Emma away from her primary position, the 2-meter defender, because she dominates and completely shuts down centers from scoring in front of the cage. She is the most deserving scholar-athlete our program has had in over a decade. She leads our team in so many positive ways. She is the teammate everyone looks to and goes to. She is someone everyone can trust.”
Jakob Thelle
Thelle will leave his mark in Mānoa as one of the best to ever play for the Rainbow Warrior volleyball program. During a standout five-year career, Thelle became the fourth player in program history to receive both first-team AVCA All-America and first-team Academic All-America honors. He will earn his master’s in urban and regional planning next month.
“How does one describe the impact that Jakob has had on our program, our department at UH and for our state,” head coach Charlie Wade said. “There are very few in the country who can say they lead a team to two consecutive national championship titles and Jakob is one of those very few. He is the team leader who has guided our team since 2019.
“Jakob is everything we want in a student-athlete here. He excels athletically, academically, and as a person on and off the court.”
A three-year starter at setter, Thelle earned Big West Player of the Year honors last season and has directed UH to consecutive national championships. This year, he has guided the Warriors to a No. 1 ranking for the majority of the season and a share of the Big West regular season title. He will finish his career among the program’s leaders in assists and service aces.
Considered the most prestigious award in UH athletics, the Jack Bonham Award is named for the late assistant athletics director who was killed in 1974 in a plane crash in American Samoa. Bonham was returning to the islands from New Zealand where he was on a recruiting trip at the British Commonwealth Games.
