January 11, 1992

Tracy Nichols ’91, a former member of the cross-country team and “only the second All-America selection in the school’s history,” won the Honda Inspiration Award “for overcoming an ailment that has plagued her since she was 11.” The disease, pandysautonomia, prevented her from perspiring. The Poughkeepsie Journal reported, “The only way Nichols [was] able to compete throughout her collegiate career [was] with the help of people literally throwing buckets of water on her along the course so that she wouldn’t overheat and collapse from heat stroke.”

Nichols, who studied in Leningrad on a fellowship after graduating, set several cross-country records and won several awards while at Vassar.