TITAN ON THE MEND.

Byline: Chris Hansen The Register-Guard

Monica Teeple walked off the Lane Community College track at the end of the NWAACC multi-events championship meet last spring, slammed her bag of gear down at her mother's feet and joyfully belted out, "How do you like that!'

The two embraced and cried. It was a rare display of emotion for someone who had finished only in fifth place.

Yet, just being in the competition was a monumental victory for Teeple, who only 17 months earlier was diagnosed with cancer after a melon-sized tumor was found in her abdomen.

"I remember coming off the track, shocked that I scored over 4,000 points," Teeple said of her 4,114-point performance. "It was an amazing feeling."

This season, Teeple, now a 21-year-old sophomore, finished third in the heptathlon at the multi-event championships two weeks ago with a personal record of 4,287, earning her all-America status.

On Saturday, at the Southern Region championships being hosted by Lane, Teeple will compete in at least six events for the Titans - a pedestrian amount for someone who not too long ago was in a fight for her life.

"Let's get it out"

Teeple was sitting in the back seat of her parents' car when the call came to her dad's cell phone.

It was there, in the parking lot of the Schlotzsky's Deli in Springfield, Nov. 25, 2002, that Teeple first learned she had cancer.

A lump that had been the size of a golf ball when Teeple first discovered it a month earlier was rapidly growing. It had broken through her abdominal muscles, was pushing down on her bladder and had formed a noticeable bubble on Teeple's otherwise flat, muscular stomach.

"I couldn't believe it," Teeple said. "I was in such good shape, I was an athlete, how could I have this deadly disease in my body?'

Teeple was 18 at the time and on a partial track scholarship at Lane following a standout prep career at Seaside High School, where she was a five-time Cowapa League champion in the 100, 200, long jump and both relays, as well as a four-year state-meet qualifier.

The competitor in her was ready for a fight.

"I sat there in the car and was like, `Let's get it out. Let's go right now and get it out,' ' Teeple said.

The very next morning she checked into Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland. The tumor, too big to be surgically removed, had to be killed through chemotherapy. Treatments began immediately.

Every 21 days for the next four months, Teeple went through a series of chemo sessions that lasted between five and seven days. Her hair eventually fell out, as did her eyebrows and eyelashes. Some days her hands burned from the inside out.

It was painful. It was horrific. But it was working.

By March of 2003 Teeple was in remission. One month later she traveled with her Lane teammates to Spokane for the 2003 multi-event championships. Still very weak and fragile, Teeple remembers that weekend with mixed emotions.

"I had no hair and I wasn't physically strong," Teeple said. "It was hard because the girls would be doing their hair in the morning, and I would have to put on a hat. Being a girl, that was really hard. It was a very difficult experience."

It was also inspiring.

"I wanted to run again"

There was a point, 2 1/2 months into Teeple's treatment, when those around her wondered if she would ever be her old self again physically.

At the time, Teeple was bedridden, getting up only to use the bathroom.

But by the summer of 2003, she was intent on training.

"That was one of those things she was basing her ability to start living again by," said Katie Teeple, Monica's mom.

Along with her former high school long jump coach, Doug Dougherty, Teeple began the long, grueling process of returning her body to its prior shape.

"We had to start small, and it was frustrating for her because she is a very gifted athlete," said Dougherty, who is the superintendent of the Seaside school district. "She knew it was going to be tough. She knew it wasn't going to be easy."

Their first day together, Teeple could walk only one lap around the track. The explosion she once had as a sprinter was gone. The spring in her legs that made the long jump her best event was missing. She had no endurance, weak muscles and difficulty breathing.

"She'd come home and she'd be so physically tired," Katie Teeple said.

"I had nothing," Teeple said. "I was like a baby again. I was out of shape, but also the toll from the chemo, it just rips your insides to shreds."

Dougherty and Teeple worked together four times a week, taking note of every improvement to keep her motivated. By midsummer she was lifting weights and jogging around the track.

"Monica is very goal-oriented, so we worked on this piece by piece," Dougherty said. "I knew she had to be able to see that she could get back, but she also had to have a vision."

She had that for sure.

"I kept a journal and wrote all the time about how my goal was to come back and compete again," said Teeple, choking back tears. "All I ever wanted to do was to be able to run again."

"I want to inspire people"

Teeple returned to Lane in time for the 2003 fall term and immediately rejoined the track team.

"She wasn't as athletic as she was," Lane coach Grady O'Connor said. "But her work ethic is amazing, and she quickly erased any doubt about any (long-term) residual effects."

Teeple proved that to everyone else with her performance in the heptathlon later that spring.

"It's really difficult to put into words what that meant," Katie Teeple said. "It was so much more than just finishing a heptathlon. It was overwhelming because not only had she succeeded and finished, but she had improved. It was nothing short of miraculous."

Saturday, Teeple will compete in the long jump, pole vault, 100 and 200 meters, 100 hurdles and as a member of the 4x100 relay team.

"She's our high-point athlete," O'Connor said. "She is solid in so many events."

But none better than the long jump. With her PR of 17 feet, 5 1/2 inches, Teeple is ranked No. 1 in the NWAACC.

"I want to do well for me, but I also want to do well for my friends and family," said Teeple, who gets tested every six months to make sure the cancer is still in remission. "I want them to share in my accomplishment. I want to inspire people."

She already has.

"As a coach, there are wins and losses," O'Connor said. "But this is a success story that you really remember."

CAPTION(S):

Lane's Monica Teeple, who overcame cancer last year, will be competing in seven events at the Southern Region championships. Monica Teeple Teeple (center) during chemotherapy with friends Lynzie Mizell (left) and Amber Gilliam. Monica Teeple Monica Teeple kept her spirits up during her cancer treatments, including a spinal tap at Doernbecher Children's Hospital with Dr. Suman Malempati.