Siena's Brendan Finneran to Receive ECAC Award of Valor
MAAC Sports
Cape Cod, Mass. - Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Commissioner Rudy Keeling announced that Siena College's Brendan Finneran is one of five recipients of the ECAC Award of Valor.
This year's winners also include Meghan Bain (James Madison University), Dan Rhault (University of Rhode Island), Francesca Testa (Western Connecticut State University), and Kindra Lewis (Alvernia University). They will receive their awards at the Honors Luncheon on Tuesday, October 6 presented by Jostens. The luncheon will be held at The Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis, Massachusetts during the 2009 ECAC Fall Convention and Trade Show.
Established in 1985, the ECAC Award of Valor honors ECAC athletes whose courage, motivation, and relentless determination serves as an inspiration to all. The recipients exemplify strength of character and perseverance deserving recognition as being truly triumphant.
During Finneran's high school days, counselors doubted his ability to be able to enroll into Siena College and play Division I lacrosse for the Saints because of his 2.0 grade point average. To prove doubters wrong, Finneran worked hard on his academics, entered into a prep school, boosted his GPA to a 3.2, and developed into a skilled lacrosse player. He was soon accepted into Siena and received a lacrosse scholarship. Unfortunately, about a month after acceptance, Finneran was hit near his knee during lacrosse practice, causing severe pain which trainers advised to take four ibuprofens a day. As the pain grew worse over the next week, Finneran saw many doctors, had an x-ray and MRI, a biopsy, and met with an oncologist. The oncologist then announced that the six-foot-three, 210 pound athlete had bone cancer, would need surgery, and had to undergo chemotherapy. Finneran underwent chemo, dropping his weight to 125 pounds. When things couldn't seem to get worse, one night Finneran experienced a cramp in his chest and was struggling to breathe. He had an infected lung, and by the middle of the night was dying in the hospital. After discussing burial plans and creating a will with his parents, Finneran miraculously lived. On June 15, 2006, doctors removed almost all of the bone between the top of his calf and the bottom of his thigh, and replaced it with titanium. Despite being told he will not walk for six months, Finneran was walking six weeks later, and on the day he realized he could stand, he immediately picked up his lacrosse stick. After being told he would not be able to run again for years, by the summer of 2007 Finneran was running and biking. Siena let him keep his scholarship whether he played lacrosse or not. During his freshman year, he kept stats for the Saints and assisted with radio broadcasts. A year later during the fall of 2008, Finneran was back on the lacrosse field, practicing with his teammates, and gearing up for the 2009 spring season. As of right now, Finneran is still cancer free.
About the ECAC®
The ECAC is the nation's largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference in the country with approximately 300 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities. The ECAC stretches from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors nearly 100 championships in 37 men's and women's sports and assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports. The ECAC also administers nine affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues, and through the public relations arm of the conference, more than 2,000 student-athletes in are recognized annually. Finally, the ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men's and women's ice hockey and men's lacrosse.