The NCAA has recognized two track and field athletes, Widener University's Macharia Yuot and Oklahoma's Michelle Thomas , as winners of the organization's 2005 Inspiration Awards presented January 9 at the 2005 NCAA Convention in Dallas.

The NCAA Inspiration Award, which is part of the NCAA Honors Program, is presented to individuals annually who are currently associated with intercollegiate athletics or who are former varsity letter winners at an NCAA institution. Award criteria demand that the nominee must be someone who, when confronted with a life-altering situation, used perseverance, dedication, and determination to overcome the event, so he or she now serves as a role model to give hope and inspiration to others in similar situations.

Widener University junior and All-American track and field athlete Macharia Yuot spent most of his childhood as a member of the "Lost Boys of the Sudan." When he was nine years old, he fled his home in Sudan, Africa, as a refugee from a two-decade-long religious civil war between the Muslims in the northern part of the country and the Christians in the south. Trekking nearly 1,000 miles on foot, with limited food and drink, Yuot and the surviving Lost Boys arrived in Ethiopia in 1991 only to be chased from that country not long after their arrival. Once again finding themselves homeless, the Lost Boys ate wild berries to survive. They eventually found their way to Kenya, where they lived in refugee camps. During his time in Kenya, Yuot received an education and studied Arabic, Swahili and English. He also played soccer.

In 2000, Yuot and 3,600 other Lost Boys were relocated to the United States in one of the most ambitious relocation programs since Vietnam. Yuot was relocated to Pennsylvania. With the help of the Lutheran Church, he enrolled in West Philadelphia Catholic High School as a junior. At West Catholic, he played soccer and landed a spot on the track and field team where he caught the attention of the Widener University coaching staff. After a close friend was accepted to Widener, Yuot himself took a close look at the university and decided to apply.

Yuot recently became the first Widener University student-athlete to receive All-American honors in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field. He was a runner-up at the 2003 NCAA Division III Cross Country championships, and won the Middle Atlantic Conference championship in cross country in both 2003 and 2004. He also won the Middle Atlantic Conference championship in the 1,500 meters indoors and the 5,000 meters and steeplechase events outdoors during the 2004 season.

Fellow Inspiration Award winner Michelle Thomas of the University of Oklahoma faced many challenges during her senior year. Thomas and her twin sister stepped in when their two young nieces, ages five and seven, needed a home. The nieces' mother had been sentenced to prison. Their grandmother, Thomas' mother, was battling cancer and could not care for the children.

Thomas, the first NCAA Inspiration Award winner in school history, probably would have welcomed just a single event in her final year of competition as a middle distance runner at OU.

Last fall, each morning, Thomas got up and got the children to day care before she went to early morning cross country practice. She kept that schedule throughout the fall semester and finished with a 3.56 grade point average in her major of microbiology with a minor in chemistry. She also earned Academic All-Big 12 honors in cross country for her performance.

Thomas, her sister and the two nieces settled into life. She returned to school and practices in January in preparation for the 2004 indoor season. Life was beginning to return to normal when tragedy struck again. Returning from workouts, Thomas and her teammates noticed an OU police officer talking to their coach. Shortly after, the coach approached Thomas with the news that her oldest sister had been murdered. The fact that the murder occurred on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a day set aside to honor the memory of the man who preached nonviolence, only added to the pain.

Money was tight and ultimately the expense of paying for her older sister's burial fell to Thomas and her twin sister. Utilizing money they had saved for school expenses, they paid the expenses for the services.

Still, Thomas continued to go to class, train for competition and provide a stable home for her young nieces. Following the funeral, she returned to school and the team, now facing the challenge of paying college- related expenses. Soon after her return to Norman, she was called to the athletic director's office and informed that an academic scholarship had been awarded to her.

Thomas, a Bill Gates Scholar, competed in the Big 12 Indoor Championships, running on OU's distance medley relay that scored at the conference meet with a fifth place finish. She competed throughout the outdoor season and continued to succeed in the classroom, earning Academic All-Big 12 first team honors for the third time in her Sooner career.

Her nieces returned to live with their mother after she was released from prison. However, in November, after a series of setbacks, Thomas went to McAlester and moved her sister and the two nieces back to Norman. She got her nieces re-enrolled in Norman Public Schools and has encouraged their mother to return to school. Scheduled to graduate in May with her bachelor's degree in microbiology with a minor in chemistry, Thomas says that she did what she needed to do. A lifetime of helping may be in store for Thomas who is interested in pursuing a career in medical research.