5 Sports’ Sit Down: Mary Roush, the WVU Mountaineer

MORGANTOWN, W.Va (WDTV) - This year’s WVU Mountaineer, Mary Roush joins this week’s sit down, talking about what it’s like suiting up as the WVU Mountaineer, representing the state of West Virginia and more.

Roush starts off by reflecting on the moment last winter when she was announced as the next Mountaineer, “I knew, the dream and the goal was to be the WVU Mountaineer, but I didn’t expect it so early, I expected I was probably going to have to go through the process, so when I heard my name announced in the coliseum if you look back in pictures and videos my jaw dropped, because I was so in shock also it was a dream come true, that was my I made it moment.”

For Roush, it’s been the dream since she was young, “Ever since I was a ;little girl I always had a very very big passion and love for the state of west Virginia, I was born and raised here, my family did a very good job of teaching me, I would say core values that west Virginians believed in so I always loved the state, always cheered for the Mountaineers, so I always knew I wanted in some way, shape, or form, make the state better and I didn’t really know how that would be possible for a small town girl so once i got to the high school age and started researching and decide I really wanted to come to VWU, once I got to campus, I knew the Mountaineer position was perfect for me.”

“It’s been everything I expected and more, obviously there’s gonna be some, tis a big role so there’s going to be surprises and things I didn’t really expect or realize but so far I’m living the dream, it’s the best job in the world.”

Obtaining the role so early in her college career was a bit unexpected, but accepted with such excitement and gratitude, It’s been hard to balance just because I just turned 19 so I’m still in that age where I’m still calling my mom everyday, asking her how I mail a postcard or you know things like that, calling my dad when my car breaks down, so I’m still in that stage of life where you’re transferring from being used to having your family to living alone in college and then on top of getting this role, this job, its a full time gig, there’s a lot of learning and transitioning and just figuring out as I go you know how to balance everything but tis such a character development role, I’m learning so much about myself, I’m growing up, I’m learning so much about other people and how to communicate and just so many skills, so many former mountaineers dedicate their success to being the Mountaineer and just how much growth you have during your term.”

Representing the state has been the most rewarding to Roush, “That’s the biggest part to me, I as the Mountaineer am always representing not only everyone here at WVU, our alumni, but I’m also representing the 1.8 million people who live in west Virginia and that’s really why I wanted to become the Mountaineer, is for that representation and to give back, it means the world to me, it’s the greatest honor any West Virginian can have is to be the Mountaineer.”

Suiting up in the Mountaineer gear is a bit heavy, but Roush has gotten used to it, “I’m getting used to it that’s the great thing about the transition happening in April, is that I have months to prepare before football season because that’s the peak of the busy time for the Mountaineer, but yeah I get used to it, when I first picked up the rife it was super heavy and I was a little nervous I was like oh no can I carry this, it’s 8 to 10 pounds, am I really gonna be able to carry this everyday, know its nothing to me, I just wave it around like its nothing, so I get used to it.”

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