Melany Ward is a senior at West Liberty-Salem and the leading scorer on the girls basketball team following a fall season as the soccer team’s leading scorer. She also likes to snowboard at nearby Mad River Mountain.

The News-Sun recently sat down with Ward.

Question: What have you enjoyed about being a high school athlete?

Answer: I get to be a leader, and I think that’s pretty cool. And it’s just fun to play with people that you grew up with.

Q: You haven’t won as much in basketball this season, so what has that been like?

A: It’s been different. We went from having Becka (Peterson) and playing with her for three of my four years. But I still enjoy playing with my teammates. I love my team. We all have a good attitude and we all love to play basketball. So even if we’re not winning, we’re still trying hard and giving our best effort.

Q: What are your plans for after high school?

A: I’m probably going to play college basketball somewhere. I’m not sure yet. And probably go to school for nursing — I like to help people.

Q: I’ve never been snowboarding, so what is it like?

A: You’d probably fall a lot, which is kind of scary for your first time. I took my boyfriend up for his first time and he fell once or twice. And after he got the hang of it he would keep falling because he didn’t know how to stop. Stopping’s the hardest part. So we went up three more times, and after the third time he was pretty good. It’s just fun to ride and go fast and hit jumps.

Q: Do you watch snowboarding on TV?

A: Yeah. It’s pretty cool. They’re a lot better than I am, but it’s pretty cool to watch. They’re so good.

Q: Are you going snowboarding soon?

A: I try to avoid it during basketball because I don’t want to get hurt and let my team down. Coach Mac (Dennis McIntosh) always told me that I should stay away from it as much as I can. I’ll probably wait until our first tournament game (Thursday vs. Versailles) is over.

Q: What will you remember most about your teams?

A: Just the girls. I really enjoyed playing with the people that I played with. I would never trade it. And I just really love playing basketball. I’m going to miss it.

Q: What do you like about school?

A: Probably about history and talking about the law and how our government works. I probably like that class the most because my basketball coach is my teacher.