University of Delaware Athletics
BLUE HEN SPOTLIGHT: Allie Mikelson Reflects on Cancer Scare One Year Later
12/2/2015 11:39:00 AM | Field Hockey
Written by Erin Dunne, Athletics Media Relations Student Intern
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| Allie (left) poses with classmate Jacki Coveleski and volunteer assistant coach Jordan McKee at the 2014 CAA Tournament. Allie now looks back at this photo and realizes the lump in her throat. |
When it comes to oncoming attackers flying towards her, Allie Mikelson is a skilled pro on the field hockey turf. She dives towards her opponents with force and demonstrates an exemplary ability to drive the ball away from the Blue Hens penalty circle. A fast and cunning player, Allie can skillfully thwart her opponent's attempts on goal and helped guide Delaware to three straight Colonial Athletic Association titles.
But when Mikelson's world was turned upside down a year ago with a cancer diagnosis, this was an opponent she was not quite used to. Cancer, the one word that changes everything, would be her foe this time. That spring season, instead of defending the Blue Hens goal, she would be defending her body against this unexpected disease.
“It's a surreal feeling when it's one of those things that you don't really think it going to happen to you, especially since you're young,” Allie explained. “But you can't do anything about it. It's not really something that I could have controlled, so it just makes you stop and think about where you are and how you got there.”
After a call to her sister, Krissy, who is a sophomore on the team, Allie prepared to take the battle head on.
“I was scared because you never know how bad it can be and cancer isn't always fair,” remarked Krissy Mikelson.
But as for an encounter against cancer, there was simply no other way but to win for Allie. She would not accept anything but success. After a biopsy, a long series of doctor's visit and an intensive surgery to remove the lump in her neck, Allie made a full recovery.
“She obviously overcame this with ease, and I didn't think it would be any other way, knowing my sister,” Krissy commented.
Though Allie admits the experience was a struggle and scary at times, she was anxious to get back onto the field with her teammates.
“It felt good. Being back on the field, it [the cancer] feels like a distant memory,” Allie said. “It's incredible the amount of support I got to help me push through that and be able to return to play in that short period of time where it was found, diagnosed and removed.”
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| Another 2014 CAA Tournament picture, where Allie was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, shows the then-undetected lump in her neck. |
Her parents, relieved that the event is in the past, enjoyed watching their daughters play together one last time throughout the CAA Tournament and NCAA Tournament, as Allie will graduate with a degree in exercise science in May.
“To watch her on the field this season, sometimes it brought tears to our eyes,” mentioned her father, Scott Mikelson. “You think about it and go back and think about what might have been or what could have been and watching her continue to play and love the game, love school, love her studies, we're pretty proud of her. As parents, you couldn't be prouder of your child.”
Her experience, though a distant memory at times, left the Mikelson family forever changed. The Mikelsons look to one another to remember the positive outcome and to move past all of the 'what ifs,' 'whys' and 'hows' that come with cancer.
“Nothing changed, it's awesome,” stated her mother, Nadine Mikelson. “It's only sometimes that she comes up and my eyes drift to the incision, and I think 'wow, I'm so glad that's over.' Here she is, 
she's very lucky, she played this year and she didn't miss a beat.”
Allie, a three-time All-CAA Second Team and two-time All-Tournament Team performer, finished her senior campaign by setting new school records with 86 career games played and 16 career defensive saves.
While others may get bogged down in the unfairness of cancer in their lives, Allie utilizes the disease to channel her energy into looking forward in life and appreciating all her future has to offer.
“I can go back and think about, in January and for two years before that, I had cancer and didn't know about it. That's something that I will think about forever,” she said. “It could have affected me as a field hockey player, as a student, and I was lucky enough to not let it affect that. It's made me be a lot more grateful for where I'm at.”
