Amanda Santana is at ease.
Sitting within the cavernous stands of Hayward Field Tuesday afternoon, Santana is simultaneously near the sport she loves and memories of her sister, Bailey Santana. Nearby is a handbag decorated by Bailey and inside are pictures of her younger sibling.
Just over three months have passed since Amanda Santana’s younger sister, Bailey, passed away on Jan. 21.
“Whenever I’m out training or out competing, I’m always thinking of ‘if I’m in pain.’ I always push hard because I know she was in pain and she was such a hard worker and she was so dedicated to surviving and to doing all she could and her great attitude that she always had.”
Bailey Santana was diagnosed with a brain tumor on March 22, 2005 that was inoperable and fast-growing. The family traveled to Houston, Texas on March 29 to seek treatment. Amanda Santana joined her parents and redshirted for that outdoor season.
The family stayed in Texas more than two months. Bailey Santana later returned to Oregon by air ambulance on June 1 to Legacy Emanuel Children’s Hospital in Portland. She left the hospital July 14 and continued her recuperation in the comfort of home.
Fast forward to the present
Saturday, Amanda Santana will be joining her teammates for the Pacific-10 Conference Championships at Stanford. Santana’s season-best time in the hurdles is 1:02.79 seconds, short of the regional qualifying time of 1:00.82, and “hopefully, God willing, I’ll be all ready and peak at the right time” this weekend, she said.
“I’m mentally prepared, physically prepared and so I just have to relax and get down there and compete,” Santana said.
Track and Field Director Vin Lananna’s noticed the positive attitude Santana relied on during a difficult time period for her.
“It’s tough to concentrate just on track when you have so many things that are going on but I feel very confident that Amanda will rise to occasion,” he said. “She is just an upbeat, positive person.”
Last year, the Oregon athletes adopted Bailey Santana as its UO Duckling, and teams in the Athletic Department raised funds to defray the family’s medical costs. Santana attended all the home track meets and attended the Western Oregon Twilight in Monmouth, near the family’s home in Salem.
“It opened her eyes to everyone here in the community, on the team, just U of O athletics in itself, she was a little star and she was able to feel good about herself and shine,” Amanda Santana said of her sister’s UO Duckling experience.
At the Pepsi Invitational, pole vaulters Tommy Skipper and Jon Derby scooped up Bailey Santana, carried her around the track and gave her a taste of the admiration Oregon fans heap on track and field athletes.
“That was really, really, really cool,” Amanda Santana said. “It’s definitely a moment that you never want to miss ’cause you could see in her face that she was really loving it and she felt like the star.”
Santana is quick to flash her smile, relying on an upbeat attitude to get through the painful moments – and through when Bailey Santana passed away.
“If you aren’t positive, then everything around you is negative,” Amanda Santana said. “Positive is the only way to keep everything happy, to keep everything going, to keep a healthy lifestyle.”
Saying goodbye
In the latter stages of Bailey Santana’s life in January, Amanda Santana was driving to Salem every weekend and even during the week with professors working with her to make up the work.
“The professors and staff were all really, really understanding in letting me do what I needed to do to be with my family and say my goodbyes and stuff like that,” Santana said.
Santana had traveled to Reno, Nev. for the Pole Vault Summit Jan. 19-20 so she could watch her boyfriend, Skipper, compete and on Sunday morning around 2 a.m., Bailey Santana passed away. Amanda Santana found out that morning when she was leaving to fly home.
The family held her memorial service later that week on Friday, Jan. 26 at the Queen of Peace Catholic Church. To Santana’s surprise, a charter bus of Oregon athletes, en route to the University of Washington Invitational, pulled into the parking lot and attended the service.
“It was really inspirational,” Santana said. “Everyone in my family just thought that was really really neat.”
Santana spoke and shared stories about her sister and expressed “what a miracle she was and is and in everyone’s life. I shared a lot too about everything that she’s taught every one of us and I really did just a lot of reflecting on what God was speaking through with her and for us to all learn out of it.”
Big surprise
Her boyfriend, Skipper, proposed to Santana last April 19. Skipper, a well-known athlete in track circles, planned a real elaborate proposal. His parents have an air strip in Sandy and so the day before, he painted ‘Will you marry me?’ on the runway. So when they flew over his house, she read the message and accepted.
He had also secretly organized a surprise engagement party for that day with his and her family.
“It was just a real fun and exciting day,” Santana said.
Skipper has been a comforting presence for her, she says.
“His brother also passed away when he was in high school so he has been very supportive and we both kind of have the same understanding and the same needs and wants from each other of being able to cope and deal with the loss of a sibling.”
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