Megan Cherkas. credit: Don Healy, The Leader-Post
Cherkas sees good things
Murray McCormick, The Leader-Post
Published: Thursday, November 01, 2007Megan Cherkas, who has battled through knee injuries in three previous seasons with the University of Regina Cougars, pronounced herself healthy for the 2007-08 women's basketball season.
Not so fast. Cherkas was feeling great about the upcoming season before being infected with the West Nile virus in August. While her knees are strong, she was weakened by the virus that is transferred to humans by mosquitoes.
"I didn't get the one with the flu symptoms,'' said Cherkas, a fourth-year guard with the Cougars. "I just felt drained all of the time. I couldn't breathe when I ran and I thought that I developed allergies over the summer.''
View Larger ImageUniversity of Regina Cougars guard Megan Cherkas. credit: Don Healy, The Leader-Post
Cherkas saw a doctor, who diagnosed that she had West Nile. Cherkas was able to bounce back after plenty of rest. Cherkas added that Meryl Jordan, another guard with the Cougars, was infected with the West Nile virus during the summer.
"I was lucky because mine was really minor,'' Cherkas said.
Cherkas and the Cougars begin the 2007-08 Canada West season on the weekend with two games at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport. The Cougars, ranked seventh in the CIS pre-season poll, play the Trinity Western Spartans on Friday and the Simon Fraser Clan on Saturday. The Clan are the CIS's top-ranked team and the defending national champions. Both games tip off at 6 p.m. The men's team also opens play Friday against the same schools at 8 p.m. on both nights.
The Cougars women's team rolls into the season with high expectations. After two years of pleading patience with the development of a young team, the Cougars are poised to reap the rewards of the learning process.
"People used to tell us that it was OK to be inexperienced,'' said Cherkas. "It wasn't OK but that was one of the reasons. Now we have players in our third and fourth years and it's time.''
Dave Taylor, who returns for his second full season as the Cougars head coach, anticipates this season being the "pay-off" year for the squad. There are six fourth-year players and four players in their third season with the Cougars.
"We knew that we were building for this year,'' Taylor said. "If we can stay healthy, we can be very good.''
Being good enough means winning their division and being one of the final four teams at the Canada West championship. The Canadian championship is March 13-16 in Saskatoon.
"Once there, you win one game and you're at nationals,'' Taylor said. "Our goal is to be playing well at the Final Four weekend.''
That comes back to the maturing of the Cougars. The younger players learned about the university game while logging significant minutes in their first and second years. They also gave away a great deal of experience to older teams.
The future looks bright because there aren't any fifth-year players on the roster. That means the Cougars should remain intact for another season when they play host to the 2009 CIS women's basketball championship.
"That's the year when we should be at our best,'' Taylor said.
Cherkas felt that one of the advantages of playing as youngsters with the Cougars was they have all become friends. They hung out over the summer and are close heading into the new season. Those bonds will be needed to carry through with the team's goals for this season and next.
"We've all matured together,'' Cherkas said. "We've matured into responsible adults. We aren't children anymore and we know what we have to get done. Being women now, we are naturally much stronger.''
Among the Cougars' fourth-year players are Chelsea Cassano, Jacquie Kenyon, Maja Kralovcova, Jessica Lynch and Jordan. Gabby Gheyssen returns after being named to the CIS all-rookie team in 2007.
Among the notable newcomers are post Brittany Read and Lynch. Read moves into the CIS level after playing with the Balfour Redmen.
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