By Ben_Leighton. Published Monday, February 1st, 2010

Success in athletics takes a great deal of effort, and one Medical Lake High School senior has been going all out for four years.

He might not be the biggest guy, but Medical Lake's Nick Pacheco isn't afraid to play big and physical.

"He's the leading rebounded at 5'6", so when you got a guy at 5'6" and the heart of a lion, it's always nice to have a player like that on your team," Cardinals basketball coach Arnold Brown said.

"I just don't back down to people. I just work hard, do whatever I can," said Nick.

Nick has done whatever he can to help the Cardinals in every sport he plays. He is on pace to leave Medical Lake as a 12-time letterman.

"He's our starting quarterback in football and probably one of our top baseball players we've had here. I always describe him as a heart of gold," Brown said.

There is no doubt that it will be hard for Nick to walk away from Medical Lake in a few months after putting so much effort and time into his four years.

"I'm gonna miss everything about it, like, gonna miss my friends, and playing sports here, gonna miss it all really," said Nick.

"All the kids in the school love him. He's the number one with fans so it's gonna be hard to replace him. I'm gonna miss him," said Brown.

Nick won't be hard to find next year because he's staying close to home and headed to Spokane Falls Community College, where he hopes to continue his baseball career.