. >> reporter: jill costello was a cox for the berkeley crew team. the two soon became best friends, roommates and sorority sisters, each living their best lives until the end of their junior year. >> june 2009, everything changed after that. >> reporter: jill was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. her senior year would be filled with chemotherapy and radiation. jill continued going to school, continued to row. >> the craziest thing within that year was she was waking up at 4:30 a.m. every morning with a smile on her face. what probably inspires me most in my skiing still is if she can do that while she's fighting lung cancer, then there's nothing really to ever complain about with my skiing. >> reporter: jill died not long after graduation. and casey returned to her olympic quest, but with a much different perspective. >> generally when you go through a situation like that, what you really realize is despite your love and passion for a sport, it's always your friends and family that are most important. >> reporter: with that in mind, casey honor

. >> jill costello was on the berkeley team. the two soon became best friend, roommates and sorority sisters, each living their best lives until the end of their junior year. >> june 2009 and everything changed after that. >> jill was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. though her senior year would be filled with chemotherapy and radiation, jill continued going to school, continued to row. >> the craziest thing within that year was she was waking up at 4:30 a.m. every morning with a smile on her face and honestly what probably inspires me most is my skiing still, if she can do that while fighting lung cancer, there's nothing that i can complain about with my skiing. it's always an easy fight. jill died not long after graduation and casey, well, she returned to her olympic quest, but with a much different perspective. >> generally, when you go through a situation like that, what you really realize is despite your love and passion for a sport, it's always -- it's always your friends and family that are most important. >> reporter:

. >> jill costello was with the berkeley crew team.two soon became best friends, roommates and sorority sisters. each living their best lives until the end of their junior year. >> june 2009. and everything changed after that. >> jill was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. though her senior year would be filled with chemotherapy and radiation, jill continued going to school, continued to row. >> the craziest thing within that year was, she was waking up at for you:30 a.m. every morning with a smile on her face. probably what bothers me most, if she can do that while she's fighting young cancer then there's something to ever complain about. >> jill died not long after graduation. and casey returned to her olympic quest. >>> when you go through a situation like that, despite your love and passion for a sport, it is always your friends and family are most important. >> with that in mind, casey honors jill to this day. running jill's legacy. and raising enough money over the years to fund a first of its kind young person lung cancer resea

. >> jill costello was on the berkeley rowing team. s, roommates and sorority sisters, each living their best lives until the end of their junior year. >> june 20009, yeah, everything changed after that. >> jill was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. though her senior year would be filled with chemotherapy and radiation, jill continued going to school, continued to row. >> the craziest thing within that year was she was waking up at 4:30 a.m. every morning with a smile on her face. honestly what probably inspires me most in my skiing still is, you know, if she can do that while she's fighting lung cancer, then, you know, there's nothing to ever really complain about with my skiing, it's always an easy fight. >> jill died not long after graduation. and casey, well, she returned to her olympic quest, but with a much different perspective. >> generally when you go through a situation like that what you really realize is despite your love and passion for a sport, it's always -- it's always your friends and family that are most important. >