University of Evansville junior Bailey George, 20, a varsity member of the women’s cross-country team, died on January 4 after a three-month battle with cancer.

Funeral services were held on January 8 in her hometown of Aviston, Illinois.

“You couldn’t ask for a better person than Bailey,” said Don Walters, UE men’s and women’s cross-country coach. “She was a student first, then an athlete. And she was one who had to work extremely hard to get where she was with her running. But she always had a smile on her face, always had positive things to say.”

George ran track and cross country at Mater Dei Catholic High School in Breese, Illinois, and ran in the Illinois class AA state cross-country meet three times. She graduated in 2013.

The University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana, has roughly 2,000 undergraduates and does not field a women’s track team, but George continued to run cross country while majoring in exercise science. During her first two years, she struggled with injuries, but in several early meets in 2015, George ran in the mid 21-minute range for 5K and secured a varsity position.

Before the Greater Louisville Classic on October 3, George felt ill and Walters held her out of the meet. She arrived back on the UE campus with a 104-degree temperature and was diagnosed with a kidney infection. A week later George developed back pain that gradually worsened. An MRI revealed a tumor, which was diagnosed as melanoma of the lower spine.

George underwent intravenous immunotherapy treatments at Barnes-Jewish Hospital on the Washington University campus in St. Louis.

Walters checked in with George on a weekly basis and believed she would return to Evansville for the second semester and continue her leadership role on the 2016 cross-country team. “I redshirted her in 2013, so she had two years of eligibility,” Walters said. “She was going to be a future team captain.”

On January 4, Walters took a call from a team member in Wisconsin who told him that George had taken a turn for the worse and was in intensive care. “I wasn’t able to get over there that day and went the next day, but I didn’t even get there in time,” he said. “It shocked me to no end that, in a two-week span, she went from doing okay to this.”

This week Walters will place George’s cross-country uniform and some belongings in her locker one final time. “I recently built new lockers for the women’s team out of cherry wood,” he said. “Bailey’s locker will be hers forever.” Walters will also begin making plans for a 5K race set for next fall, a fundraising event for the Bailey George Memorial Scholarship at the University of Evansville.