Three winners of the NCAA's Inspiration Award will be recognized at the Honors Dinner January 12.

All three have overcome tremendous odds and have shown incredible determination. They are Diane Geppi-Aikens, head women's lacrosse coach at Loyola College (Maryland); Amanda Walton, a two-sport student-athlete at Yale University; and University of Miami (Florida) football student-athlete Todd Williams.

This is the second year for the NCAA's Inspiration Award, which may be presented to a coach or administrator currently associated with intercollegiate athletics, or to a current or former varsity letter-winner at an NCAA institution who, when confronted with a life-altering situation, used perseverance, dedication and determination to overcome the event and now serves as a role model to give hope and inspiration to others in similar situations.

Diane Geppi-Aikens

Geppi-Aikens has been the head coach at Loyola since 1989, leading the Greyhounds to a 180-69 overall record and nine National Collegiate or NCAA Division I championship appearances. She has coached 32 all-Americans and three academic all-Americans, and her team has been ranked in the Top 10 nationally at season's end each of the last 11 years.

While her accomplishments on the field would be impressive for any coach, Geppi-Aikens has excelled while also fighting brain cancer and a series of recurring brain tumors.

Geppi-Aikens first had a noncancerous brain tumor removed in 1995, then again in 1998. In 2001, the brain tumor returned and she again had it removed. In January of this year, Geppi-Aikens was diagnosed with brain cancer. She began seven months of chemotherapy in March, during the lacrosse season. In September, she was diagnosed with an aggressive cancerous brain tumor located in her brain stem, and she began a new, more aggressive chemotherapy.

In addition to the chemotherapy, Geppi-Aikens has endured seizures, several full craniotomy surgeries, radiation treatments and ensuing partial paralysis following the radiation.

She's also led the Greyhounds to consecutive national semifinal appearances in 2000 and 2001. She has twice been named Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Association National Coach of the Year, in 1996 and 1997, and she also is a four-time Colonial Athletic Association coach of the year.

Geppi-Aikens is a single mother to four children: Shannon, 9; Melissa, 12; Jessica, 15; and Michael, 17. In addition to her coaching at Loyola, she has been a volunteer youth basketball, lacrosse and soccer coach for her own children and children in her community. She has been an active volunteer in the Archdiocese of Baltimore school system, and she also volunteers as a speaker to newly diagnosed brain tumor patients.

Geppi-Aikens served as a member of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Committee from 1995 to 1999, including serving as chair for three years.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Geppi-Aikens though, is her attitude. It would be easy to give up or get discouraged, but she just keeps fighting.

"I can live with this treatment and future treatments," Geppi-Aikens said. "If things go well, I should be able to live a long, healthy life. If anybody's going to beat this thing, you know it's going to be me."

Amanda Walton

In 2000, Walton was a sophomore at Yale University, where the previous year she had become only one of four student-athletes in the 48-year history of the Ivy Group to be named Rookie of the Year in two sports -- field hockey and lacrosse. She was the leading scorer and most valuable player on both teams as well.

That Memorial Day, Walton's car was demolished by a vehicle whose driver was leading police on a high-speed chase. Walton suffered brain trauma, massive internal injuries and a broken pelvis and ankle. She was in a coma for two months, and she underwent intensive therapy.

In fall 2001, Walton came back to Yale as a volunteer assistant field hockey coach. Though still in a wheelchair and hampered by an immobile left arm and leg, Walton could walk with assistance. After each field hockey game, Yale coach Ainslee Lamb supplemented Walton's therapy schedule with a walk.

"Watching her take every step is just unbelievable," Lamb said. "And I fully believe that she will not only walk (unassisted), she will run. You just know she's going to beat it. She already has. She's already gone above and beyond what a lot of people anticipated. And I think what is so inspiring is that you know she is going to go further. It's going to happen, because if you know anything about Amanda, you know she is going to be successful at whatever she does. Why would you not want to have that type of person around your program?"

Todd Williams

When Williams' grandmother died of diabetes complications when he was only 14, Williams found himself without anyone to care for him. His mother hadn't been able to care for him herself for years, and he had never known his father.

Williams ended up homeless, first sharing a car with a friend and then living on the streets of Miami by himself. He stole food, stole things to sell for food, and snuck into all kinds of places to spend the night. When he stole a car, he was arrested and spent time in a juvenile facility. When he was released, no one came for him, so he was placed in a halfway house. There, he attended school, started going to church and began to turn his life around.

An uncle signed an apartment lease for him, and he put himself through high school living alone, paying his own rent and utilities and working three jobs to pay for it all. He got good grades, went out for football for the first time his senior year and worked hard, getting a scholarship to Florida State University.

Williams, now a 6-3, 315-pound offensive lineman who is planning to graduate this December with dual majors in sociology and criminology, has continued to improve his football skills. He earned ACC offensive lineman of the week honors last month, and he might play professional football one day. Even if he doesn't, Williams understands and appreciates the benefits he has reaped, from his education to his comfortable dorm bed, warm showers, regular meals and being part of a big, extended family at the school. Whatever he does next, Williams plans to help young people get a better start than he did.

"I have a story kids need to hear," he said. "I went that way and I went this way. If you take that road, I know where it will lead. If you take this road, I know where it goes, too. I'm not telling them by reading a book. I've actually been locked up. And I'm successful now."