Nicole: "Are you okay? Do you want a foot massage? How about a back rub? Want to go for a walk? Let's play ball! You're doing great!"

No, great was not the word. By 8 a.m. Sunday I was physically and mentally drained -- I was simply miserable. It must have showed, too, because every time I turned around there was a moraler popping those questions on me. I didn't need a breath of fresh air or a backrub, I needed sleep. Instead I got the next best thing.

I couldn't remember who gave it to me, only that she had blond curly hair and I thought her name was Allison. It started with me leaning on her back so as to alleviate some of the pain from my intensely aching feet. It turned into a hug when I lost it and began crying for no apparent reason.

And sometime before she sent me to the medic, I received a gentle back rub accompanied by comforting and encouraging words. If she hadn't been so caring and concerned and given me such genuine attention and support, I would have never made it.

Sean: By hour 40, I was so tired and my mind was exhausted form hallucinations, it felt like there was nothing left. The world was like nothing I'd seen in the last 21 years. I rested my head ever so slightly on the table and the tears started to flow. "All I want to do is make it" were the only words left in my brain. She lifted my head and put it on her shoulder -- I managed to get the words out.

I started to pass out when she took me to the emergency medical technician. I got 10 minutes of sleep on a cot. My mind, which had eight words in it, turned into a dictionary. I re-entered the dance floor and made it to hour 48. This girl with no name and no face had saved me. Without her, those eight words would have never become a reality. I love her for what she did.

The moral of these stories is morale. This is not to say that the friends, families and kids weren't tremendously encouraging because they were. In the end, it was the moralers who pulled us through the 1994 Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon.

Toward the end of Thon Nicole found the person who had given her the push to finish. It wasn't "Allison" but Ellen. Sean was not so fortunate, and his moraler remains unknown.

Such is probably the case for many dancers who found their strength in yellow shirts. You know who you are. We want you to know what you did -- and we want to thank you for it.