Running For His Life
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Oct. 22, 2001
After a successful freshman year in track, senior Nick Andrews was looking forward to the following season. He was expecting to do well and be competitive. He wasn't expecting to have his season abruptly interrupted by a potentially deadly disease.
Andrews, from Dayton, was diagnosed in the spring of his sophomore year with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. He first noticed a mole on his right side that started to itch. Andrews then had a biopsy to take the tissue out, and required 17 stitches from the procedure. Doctors then discovered two more trouble spots on his back, and two more biopsies led to 15 more stitches.
"The first biopsy was done in the doctor's office," Andrews said. "The second biopsy they used something that looked like a hole punch that cored out the skin."
In his first meet after the biopsy, Andrews ran the 1,500 meters in 3:55, his fastest time of the year, at a meet in Illinois. After the race, Andrews looked down at his shirt to see it covered in blood.
"It hurt to twist and to move," he said. "I must have pulled the stitches out. There was blood seeping through my top."
After that race, Andrews started taking precautions to prevent the stitches from coming undone again.
"The training room was real helpful," he said. "I had the side taped after that to make sure it didn't come open again."
Andrews went back for more surgery and eventually had 75 more total stitches, 37 in his side and 38 in his back.
"The actual surgery was painful," he said. "I could feel them pulling and tugging. It really put a kink in my season because I was running in pain. I don't think I ran as well as I should have."
Andrews came back again in time to run at the Mid-American Conference Championship that year. His freshman year he finished fifth in the conference with a time of 3:53. Because of his surgery, Andrews barely squeezed into the finals, finishing 10th overall in 3:57.
"He had a great year up to his surgery," said Warren Mandrell, head cross country and track and field coach. "He made it to the finals by the skin of his teeth. It took a great effort to make it there. He basically had six weeks in and out."
After surgery, Andrews couldn't really take it easy.
"I had to hop back into it," Andrews said. "I had to run against good competition, but I still had to watch it."
Andrews, also a member of the cross country team, was determined to come back stronger than ever his junior year. He also was determined to wait until after he graduated from college to have any more surgery done.
"I wanted to stay healthy and be competitive," he said. "I saw the way it affected how I ran. It kind of depressed me a little bit. I got down on myself for not running well." Andrews' family has a history of skin problems. His father has had cancer spots removed from his back, and his aunt has had her lymph nodes removed.
"I got checked out because my dad had it done," he said. "My parents wanted me to have it checked. It's something you don't mess around with."
Since the surgery, Andrews has dedicated himself to running and his school.
"I feel I have an obligation," he said. "I'm on scholarship, so Miami's paying me to run."
And Andrews has been running every day since his freshman year in high school.
That kind of perseverance paid off his junior year, when he placed second in the 1,500 at the conference meet in Buffalo. He was in eighth place with about 200 meters left to go before passing everyone but the leader.
Andrews waited until his final track and field race, at last year's MAC Championship in Oxford, to run a career-best time of 3:51 in the 1,500.
"It was great because it was the last meet ever and I ran my fastest time here at Miami," he said. "I was happy to end my career at the home track."
Mandrell feels the conference meets are where Andrews does his best running.
"You can always count on him when it's important," he said. "He's a very valuable part of both the track and cross country teams. The year before last he was the highest scorer at the MAC."
Andrews has tried to keep each season and race in perspective.
"Every year I try not to say that I'm going to get this place or that place," he said. "I try not to look ahead."
While he may not look ahead, Andrews will have a successful Miami career on which to look back. This weekend he will try to add a new memory to his college athletic experience as he and his teammates compete at the MAC Cross Country Championship in Ypsilanti, Mich.
A fifth-year senior majoring in manufacturing engineering, Andrews will graduate in December. His future plans include working for Heapy Engineering, a mechanical engineering firm in Dayton.
And, of course, more running.
"I'll try to keep active, sports wise," he said. "I'd like to take some time off and relax, but I'm sure I'll stay active."
Story by Josh Chapin