The Washington College women’s lacrosse team embarked upon its first varsity season in the spring of 1982 and it did not take long for the program’s first go-to scorer to emerge. In the Shorewomen’s first-ever varsity game, Jesse Wittich racked up eight goals in a 16-9 win over Georgetown.
Jesse, who had previously played softball at the College and was a three-sport athlete in high school, was already a junior by the time the women’s lacrosse team was elevated to varsity status. As evidenced by that eight-goal performance against Georgetown, she quickly made up for lost time. In the Shorewomen’s inaugural season, she scored 40 goals, for an average of five goals per game. In 1983, during Jesse’s senior year, the Shorewomen went 6-2 against another eight-game schedule. She was again the team’s leading scorer, firing in 37 goals and assisting on five others.
In 16 career varsity games, Jesse scored five or more goals in a game nine times. Her school-record averages of 5.00 goals per game in 1982 and 4.81 goals per game for her career have both stood unbroken, untied, and, for the most part, unchallenged, for three decades.
With Jesse leading the offense, the Shorewomen put together an impressive start to their varsity history. With a 13-3 record spanning her two years on the team, the Shorewomen outscored their opponents by an average of 6.75 goals per game.
After her collegiate lacrosse playing days were over, squash became Jesse’s sport of choice. She won a pair of national championships and was ranked as high as second in the national rankings. She remains an active competitive squash player to this day.
Washington College considers it an honor and privilege to induct Jesse Wittich Anderson into its Athletic Hall of Fame on this 12th day of October, 2013.
