As the men's head coach at George Mason University for 19 years, John Cook won one NCAA Division I title and guided more than a dozen Olympians, including 1987 1,500-meter world champion Abdi Bile of Somalia.

But he says one of his current athletes, Shannon Rowbury, is one of the best athletes he's worked with. "She's the most disciplined athlete I've ever coached," Cook said by phone Monday.

That discipline has helped Rowbury enjoy a surreal month of competitions in May less than a year after returning from a hip injury.