Davey Place and Joe Donnerbauer just went out for a run. They do that a lot, being student-athletes who compete in cross country and track at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside. But on this cold, rainy day in February, they not only ran -- they saved two elderly women's lives.

Place, a junior communications major, and Donnerbauer, a freshman physical education major, were running in Petrifying Springs Park, which is adjacent to the Wisconsin-Parkside campus, when they saw a disaster in the making.

Sisters Glorianna Daggy, 78, and Rose Bruno, 88, had decided to shake off their winter blues with a car ride through the scenic park. It had been rainy outside, and it was cold and windy. When the two saw a barricade on the ground near the park's entrance, they thought nothing of it. There was a little water on the road, but again, it didn't seem deep or troublesome.

The water became deeper, but the sisters didn't notice until their Oldsmobile stalled in the water. Suddenly the two were in danger, with the water rising.

"The car stalled and I tried and tried to get it started, but it just wouldn't," Daggy said. "Then water started coming into the car and I thought, 'Oh gosh, we're going to die here.' "

Water rushed into the car and rose quickly above the seats. And while other cars were nearby, no one stopped to help -- until Place and Donnerbauer saw the stranded car.

The two student-athletes waded into the frigid waters, carrying the women out to safety.

"No one better say anything to me about young people today," Daggy said. "These two young boys never hesitated a minute. They just rushed in and carried my sister out and then came back for me."

Said Place, "We didn't do anything that anyone else wouldn't have done. They were pretty scared. They were on the bridge, just laying on the horn with water everywhere. You don't think -- you just react."

Place and Donnerbauer moved the women to safety, flagged down a van to call 911, covered the women's feet with their own shirts, and then disappeared and returned to campus before officials could get their names. Only later were the two identified.

"I really didn't want people making us out to be something we're not," Donnerbauer said. "I would think that anyone would have done the same thing. I find it hard to believe that there were people out there who didn't stop."

Good thing the people in the park that day included two student-athletes -- even if they were just out for a run.