Blue White Illustrated

JUDGMENT CALL True Grit PSU runner inspires with determined attitude Penn State Athletic Communications R achel Casciano was feeling fine that day last August when she got the news. Better than fine, actually. The Penn State cross country team had just finished a great practice at the Multi-Sport Facility, and Casciano, a distance runner from Wyomissing, Pa., who had just begun her sophomore year, was filled with a sense of accomplishment as she headed back to campus with her roommate. That's when she noticed her parents' car in a nearby parking lot. "I did a double-take," Casciano said, "because why would my parents be at school, you know? I ran over and said hi. I love my parents, and I was excited to see them. But they looked sad, as if someone had died. "Then they told me." Earlier that month, Casciano had seen a doctor back home about some swelling on the left side of her face and neck. She was told it was nothing serious, most likely a bacterial infection of the parotid gland. But she had also undergone a precautionary CT scan as part of the exam, and it was the results of that scan that had prompted Dan and Melanie Casciano to drive two and a half hours to see their daughter in person. Their conversation, full of tears and disbelief, was the beginning of an ordeal for which Casciano could never have prepared. The tests had detected thyroid cancer, unrelated to the infection. She was going to need surgery and follow-up care. She was also going to need a lot of help from her family, friends, teammates and coaches. And she was going to need perseverance. Perseverance. We've heard that word a lot at Penn State lately, haven't we? We've used it in connection with the football team, which was asked to pay the price for mis-

• Cover