Elon’s Nicole Dennion Chosen as CAA Randolph Inspiration Award Recipient

RICHMOND, Va. – Elon University women’s soccer senior forward Nicole Dennion was selected as the winner of the 2016 John H. Randolph Inspiration Award by the Colonial Athletic Association on Tuesday, May 10. CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager presented the Randolph Award to Dennion during the Elon Athletics Awards Banquet on Monday night at Alumni Gym.

VIDEO

The award recognizes individuals who through strength of character and human spirit serve as an inspiration to all to maximize their potential and ability for success. It is named after former William & Mary athletic director John Randolph, who lost a courageous battle with cancer in 1995.

“The Randolph Award is one of the conference’s most prestigious awards recognizing special individuals who have overcome tremendous challenges that inspire us all,” said Yeager. “Nicole Dennion is a remarkable student that exemplifies the human spirit of a champion.”

Nicole Dennion enrolled at Elon and became a member of the women’s soccer team in the fall of 2012. In the time between, she has shown a determination to complete her education while experiencing the physical exhaustion, and extreme emotional highs and lows of cancer treatment.

Dennion was named the 2013 Southern Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Year after leading the league in goals with 15 and helping the Phoenix reach the finals of the SoCon Tournament. She was the recipient of the Basnight Award, Elon’s highest athletics award, later that year. The award is given annually to both the most outstanding male and female athlete of the year.

Following Elon’s winter break in 2014, Dennion came back to campus and began workouts, with her focus set to be even fitter and stronger for the 2014 soccer season. In mid-February she began to feel pain in her ribs. She reported the persistent pain to her athletic trainer, along with a visible lump that had started forming in the same area. Within a few days, after a number of scans and lab work, Dennion found out the source of her pain was a baseball sized mass in her chest that was breaking her ribs as it grew.

Dennion returned home to New Jersey to begin treatment in February of 2014. First she would have surgery to remove the tumor from her side, and to replace her three damaged ribs with titanium substitutes. After her surgery, Dennion’s doctors determined her specific diagnosis was Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare childhood bone cancer. She began a cycle of grueling treatment schedule that included three to five day periods of in-patient chemotherapy followed by two weeks of rest. She repeated this treatment schedule for 10 months.

When she left Elon in February 2014, Nicole had to withdraw from all but one of her classes. She completed that one spring semester course online. While receiving chemotherapy in the fall, she completed five more online classes.

In December 2014, Dennion was declared to be in remission. She experienced what she has referred to as, “one of the happiest days of her life.” The road was cleared to do the two things she wanted most: come back to school, and play soccer again. In February 2015, she returned to campus and started classes for the first time, physically, in a year.

As part of her medical post treatment care, Dennion had CT scans at regular intervals. Approximately three weeks after returning to school, one of her scans showed a reoccurrence of her cancer. It was devastating to have the cancer return so shortly after completing treatment. After seeing her oncologist in New Jersey, Dennion received a new chemotherapy treatment schedule. When she found out that her new treatment schedule was outpatient, she arranged to have her chemotherapy in North Carolina and focused on how happy she was to be able to stay in school.

For the majority of the semester, Dennion worked her treatment schedule around her class schedule. Her treatment cycle was two weeks of daily chemotherapy followed by a week off. On the weeks that she had treatment, four out of five days she was able to receive her chemotherapy in the morning before class. On Wednesdays, she would go to class in the morning followed by treatment in the afternoon. After her Wednesday treatments, she returned to campus for a three- hour anatomy lab. She completed the semester with a 3.5 GPA, which can be described as both inspiring and unbelievable.

Over the summer, Dennion continued to receive treatment while she completed three more online courses. The side effects of her treatment prevented her from returning to school this fall, but she completed the work for several more credits online. She has since had a stem cell transplant, and is currently enrolled in the last three courses she needs to earn her bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport science. During the moments between school and treatment, she has also worked as a physical therapist’s aid and coached a girl’s club soccer team.

At a young age and in a short period of time, Dennion has had the experience of being an elite student-athlete headed toward the peak of her ability, to being sick and physically weak. Through all of the changes and uncertainty, Dennion has set goals and then achieved them. It is clear that her determination and grit are among the few things that haven’t changed.

Dennion recently wrote an essay about her experience. This is how she closed that letter:

“I believe I was meant for this journey – I was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma and I was born and raised in Ewing, N.J. The chromosome mutation for Ewing’s happens on chromosome 22, my jersey number for Elon was No. 22. This may be a coincidence, but I believe it was a sign that I was meant for this journey and I can only hope that my story can bring inspiration to other people fighting battles of their own.”

Dennion returned to campus in October to participate in the Elon women’s soccer senior day celebration. When her name was announced, the reaction of her team and the crown made it evident that Dennion’s human spirit has indeed been inspirational to many.

Past Recipients of the CAA John H. Randolph Inspiration Award
2015 Dr. Maravene Loeschke
2014 Heather Hartman
2013 Nick Colleluori
2012 Shelia Moorman
2011 Steven Vincent
2010 Dawn Evans
2009 Meghan Bain
2008 T.J. Carter
2007 Nicole Hester
2006 Kevin DuPrey
2005 Julia Shapiro
2004 Beth Childs, Alan Lindsey, Brannon Thomas
2003 Ricky Beecher
2002 Paul Tuohey
2001 Mandy Welch
2000 Laura Kenney and Liz Paoli
1999 Maria-Elena Calle
1998 Felicia Allen
1997 Scott Pearson
1996 Barbara Blosser, John Welbourn