Three recipients of the NCAA Inspiration Award will be recognized during the January 9 Honors Dinner. The Inspiration Award is not automatically presented annually, but recipients have been selected in each of the award's four years.

This year's honorees are Kaia Jergenson, a former women's basketball student-athlete at Lipscomb University; Michelle Thomas, a cross country and track and field student-athlete at the University of Oklahoma; and Macharia Yuot, a cross country and track student-athlete at Widener University.

The award is presented to a coach or administrator currently associated with intercollegiate athletics or to a current or former varsity letter-winner at an NCAA member institution who when faced with a life-altering situation overcame the event through perseverance, dedication and determination. The individual now serves as a role model, giving hope and inspiration to others in similar situations.

Jergenson

Jergenson survived a near-fatal battle with meningococcal septicemia, or bacterial meningitis, and now inspires others with her determination to reach her dreams.

She averaged 12 points and six rebounds a game for Lipscomb as a freshman before falling so ill shortly after the holiday break that she lapsed into a coma. As a result of the severity of the disease, doctors amputated both of her legs below the knee and four fingers on her right hand. Jergenson also endured multiple skin grafts and a muscle transplant in her right forearm and was left with partial use of her left arm and hand.

Jergenson learned to care for herself as she lived on campus and developed methods to take notes and tests. She also learned to use a voice-activated computer to continue going to school. She has excelled in the classroom, and she is on track to graduate in May 2005 and work toward her goal of attending medical school. She also returned to the basketball court, serving as the team manager for the past four years.

Thomas

Thomas, while raising two young nieces due to family circumstances, maintained her academic performance as a microbiology major and chemistry minor, as well as her practice and competition schedule as a student-athlete. But an already challenging situation took an unexpected turn last January when her twin sister began having complications with her pregnancy and eventually lost her child. Just days after the burial of the infant, Thomas was at an early morning practice when she was notified that an older sister had been shot and killed. Her sister had no life insurance and the rest of the family was unable to provide any financial assistance. However, Thomas had just received her Pell Grant money, and without hesitation, she used the money to help fund funeral and burial arrangements for her sister.

Thomas' grades were good enough for the university to award her an academic scholarship. She is scheduled to complete her diploma in May 2005 and plans to pursue a postgraduate degree in microbiology.

Yuot

Yuot was one of 26,000 young boys orphaned by a two-decade religious civil war in his native Sudan. About 9 years old at the time, he and the rest of the so-called Lost Boys of Sudan fled the country on foot and trekked through the sub-Saharan heat, braving hunger, dehydration, fatigue and a continued threat of violence. Yuot spent several years at a Kenyan refugee camp, where he received most of his education, including learning Arabic, Swahili and English. It was at the camp where Yuot heard about, applied and was accepted as part of an ambitious relocation program launched by the United States to begin transplanting about 3,600 Lost Boys, including Yuot, to various U.S. cities.

The five-time letter-winner is on his way to becoming one of the most highly decorated track and field and cross country student-athletes in Widener history. Last September, he joined the cross country team and, in addition to earning all-America recognition, he won the Middle Atlantic Conference individual title and was named as conference runner of the year. After qualifying for the national meet by finishing fifth at the Mideast regional, Yuot turned in a surprising second-place finish at the 2003 NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships. In track, he finished fifth at the 2003 conference indoor meet and earned a silver medal at the league's outdoor championships.