Still the greatest

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Chris Jackson

This summer I found out my mother had a tumor. The doctors removed it and she's still battling through chemotherapy.

So when I heard that Amy Skieresz, the top distance runner at UA, was diagnosed as having a tumor on her right femur, I know a little of what must have gone through her mind.

The tumor, thankfully, is benign, her doctors said, so while that's good news for Amy and her family and friends, I think something has to be said.

She finished second in the country Monday, running in extreme pain, at the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Second place in the country with a tumor?!

This is beyond anything I've seen since Kirk Gibson limped around the bases in Game One of the 1988 World Series. I've never seen an athlete in that much pain achieve so much.

In a time where baseball players go on the disabled list for slipping in their hot tubs, Amy Skieresz went out and ran the race of her life, her coach Dave Murray said.

"She's ran as good a race as I've ever seen her," he said.

I have been here since the fall of 1996, watching her win the cross country title in 1996 and covering her through the 1997 track and field and the fall 1997 cross country season. I have seen her do some amazing things, all the while being one of the most humble athletes I have ever met.

There is no raging ego, no proud boasting, nothing. Just a quiet young woman who has gone out and become the best individual athlete at the University of Arizona.

And yes, Amy, you are the best. You may never admit it to anyone in the whole world, but what you did on Monday took a lot more courage than I have ever had.

You fought through the pain, and the fear, beating odds that no Vegas casino would ever put up.

Your coach said you couldn't even run a week ago after the Western Regional meet. Training consisted of swimming, using an exercise bike and a few short runs.

This is the same woman I've seen running around the entire campus and barely breaking a sweat. You spent an entire week unable to run, unable to train for the biggest meet of the year.

Yet you went out on Monday and defeated everyone but one woman from Michigan. That is an accomplishment greater than the 1996 title. Greater than the three track titles in 1997 and two more last year.

Cross country is a sport too often ignored by people around here. All of the meets this year were held out of town, never giving many people the chance to see two of the top teams in the country. It's unfortunate. The fans here missed seeing the best athlete to attend Arizona this decade.

So go ahead and smile, Amy. Go ahead and kick back, relax, take time to heal, take time to enjoy everything here in this, your senior year.

Then I'll see you out on the track this spring, because I know now that it would take an act of God to keep you from running again.

In the end, I think your coach said it best about you:

"It would have been very easy, with someone in her position to say 'I've got an injury' and use that excuse, but that's just Amy. That's why I respect her so much."

You can add my respect to his, Amy. Congratulations, champion.

Chris Jackson is a junior majoring in journalism and can be reached via e-mail at Chris.Jackson@wildcat.arizona.edu.