Cheerleader has !desire for regionals

CcH:aPtain gets in shape for WSU by Ju stin Rufus e Se ntin el Reporter iho "(We) go fo r five hours stra ight (during games) and practice for two and o ne- ha lf 1\1 hours three times a week," said McCargish, a ~op homore sociology major. they ha ve twi ce as many team me,nbe rs this l. i vear. seve n men and seve n wo ,n e n. whi ch up. ll ows them to st unt be tt er. llto

In size, she may not be the bigges1 fan in Christianson Gym ni ght aft er ni g ht. but J chee rl eade r Laura McCa rg ish takes th e trop hy for bein g th e mo st e nerge ti c. She sai d she hopes to u:-. e a ll her energ y next fall whi le cheering in the same sc hool ant co lors. but as a Wa s hin gto n State Cougar.

"At 6 a.m. (I) run for half-a n-ho ur ge ttin g 1per ready for Was hin gton State tr yo ut s," :re McCa rg ish sa id sa.i: McCarg ish plan s to ea rn a bache lor's "· degree in soc io logy and chee r in the Pac- I 0 '·Winning the Final Fo ur.' ' was desc rib ed as McCargi'.'-ih's main goal at WSU. Whether c heerleading is considered a sport or not McCargish sa id it definitely rel:.11es as fa r as co mp et iti o n goes.

McCargish. 19. is th e co-captain of th e chee r team and o ne of the on ly three 1 remainin g me mbers from last year. Mc Ca rgis h made a lt ernate on la st yea r 's team. s bu1cheered full tim e when seve ral of1hc ed members quit throug hout the seuson.

Although th ey have t wo fewer coac he s.

Spring sports are looking awesome

With spring just around the corner. the outdoor sports of haseball. softball and track are gearing up for what they e,pcct to be a fantastic season.

The fans of the men's ba,eball team can finally look forward to a possible

I winning season. A freshfaceinthefor m of Paul Man,ardo has taken over and is giving the program a whole new look.

And what can really be said about th e women·, softball tearn?lmc,m,thbis

-.omething that is Ed Francis totally new for NIC.

- The best hope for the school to have some winners is probably in the track ,md field catego ry. and most of drntis in lhc licld.

"Our pyramids are bigger: we wanted to do it last year. but no w we ha ve a full sq uad .'" sa id McCargish. "We're co min g a ll together when we do our c heers: we·re really loud."

She said s he sees big differences between th e team this year and the one last year. including exper ience.

"This year they want to be o ut th ere:·

M,Cargish said. ,;(There arc) a lot of people this yea r who haven't cheered befo re they·ve come a long ways:·

McCargish attended the Univers ity of Washington camp last summer and ha s been in vo lved in gy mn a, ti cs s in ce third grade. Her sk ill s are apparen t as s he dall ies the crowd with her trademark back handsprings across the co urt and back during breaks in the basketball gamcs.

··sometime<.; I'm di11 y.'' '.'-.aid McCargish.

"It's fun; it gels people up and c lapping McCargish sa id she loves the intensity or th e big games. but it's hard to develop momentum wit h the crowd dur in g the women's games and then start all over again for the beginning of th e mcn ·s game\.

S he seems to do ju:,,t fine though.

"She is definitely the in..,pirational lcadcr." said 2 1-year-o ld teammate Morgan Stcwart. "You can sec it; shc loves 1he gam e and all parts of it. She has ski lls."

McCargish said !->he is a hu ge fan of the team-. and wa nt s them to kcep winning so s he will be ab le to cheer at regionals.

"Losing d ri ves me cn.11.y," she said