NGU senior cheerleader profile: Maria Neal
Hunter Merck, Staff Writer
Senior cheerleader, Maria Neal, is starting her last season as a Crusader.
Senior cheerleader Maria Neal will be hanging up her North Greenville University uniform for the final time this year. While athletics have played a huge role in the Neal’s life, she’ll be turning the page and saying goodbye to her lifelong passion.
The student-athlete from Rock Hill, S.C., attended Northwestern High school, where she cheered varsity for all four years. While Neal was a member of Northwestern’s cheer squad, the team was the runner-up at the South Carolina High School League cheerleading competition.
Neal has spent a large portion of her life in the gym, at practice or on the sidelines of football games cheering on her respective team. “Cheering at NGU has stretched my leadership skills off the field the most. [Coach] Katie Sepko pushes all of us to walk closer to Jesus everyday,” Neal says of cheering here at North Greenville.
Her favorite part of cheerleading is game day, and the relationships she’s gotten to build over the years. “Cheerleading has taught me to lead well and finish strong.”
Neal is an art major with an emphasis in photography, who hopes to find a job working with a magazine or newspaper when she graduates.
