On the ninth floor of the Penn Towers, the Villanova distance runner listened to doctors discuss treatment options for kidney cancer. Out the window, Franklin Field sprawled across the landscape.

"Just think: Nine months from now, we're going to be down there," Villanova track and field coach Gina Procaccio told her, "and we'll just look back up and think about all you've been through."

Nine months have passed, and Koons is returning to the Penn Relays at Franklin Field this weekend - the hallowed grounds where she raced as an Allentown Central Catholic High School star, where she won a distance medley relay gold medal in 2006, and where one second separated her from a repeat win last year.

Aside from three races in the last month, the soft-spoken senior math major has not competed since last year's outdoor campaign. This time, anchoring the distance medley relay and the 4x1,500-meter team for Villanova at Penn means a bit more.

"I have such a joyful feeling after I finish every race this season," Koons said. "I guess when you get injured, when something traumatic happens, it makes you appreciate doing the things you love that much more, and I'm really grateful for how everything worked out. I just count my blessings."

When Procaccio saw her star distance runner struggling last spring, she thought Koons had been working a little too hard. The coach advised her to take some time off. Koons continued to struggle, and Procaccio feared something was wrong.

"Every race, she couldn't finish," Procaccio said. ". . . I said, 'Just take a month off. Don't run a step for a month.' I just thought her body was overworked, overtired. Then they found that [tumor] at the end of that month off."

Koons visited the doctor in October 2006 after experiencing pain in her side. A CAT scan revealed a small spot on her kidney.

A visit to the urologist in June revealed that the spot on her kidney had developed into a tumor. Koons had the golf-ball-size growth removed in a laproscopic procedure - the least-invasive procedure - a month later at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y.

The coaching staff originally expected Koons to return for the indoor track season. But her recovery period stretched until the March 29 Danny Curran Meet at Widener University. And even then, no one was sure how Koons' first run back would go. She ended up finishing first in the 1,500 and the 800.

"I was super nervous; I'm not going to lie," Koons, 22, said. "I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew I had a good, 12-week block of training in January where I was allowed to train hard again. Once you jump back in, it's just going to hurt a little bit."

Koons also redshirted her freshman outdoor campaign with low iron levels, making the senior eligible for three seasons - cross-country, indoor and outdoor track - in 2008-09.

Now, at this year's relays, Koons has a title to reclaim. Tennessee beat the Wildcats by one second in the distance medley relay last year.

Koons knows she will have plenty of support.

"I've been thinking about Penn Relays and racing again for a while since recovery," she said. "I'm just so glad to be back."