"Sometimes coming into big meets it's hard for me mentally," she said. "I put a lot of pressure on myself."
After landing, the tiny 22-year-old from Allentown switched on her cell phone. She had a voice message. Her doctor had called to say the CAT-scan she underwent two weeks ago was clean. She was cancer-free. And doubt-free.
"I called my dad right away," Koons said. "I said, 'Dad, I think this is going to be a very good week.'"
It certainly was that. Almost exactly a year after doctors at Bryn Mawr Hospital detected a tumor on her kidney, Koons competed gamely against the best middle-distance runners in the country.
In Thursday's preliminaries, she finished third behind favorites Shannon Rowbury and Haddonfield's Erin Donohue, which qualified her for last night's semifinals.
That's when her unlikely quest ended, as she finished eighth. Only the top six runners in each of the two heats advanced.
"I did my best," said Koons. "Now I'll watch the great women's final [tomorrow] and then start to get ready for four years."
Donohue was third in Koons' heat, so she'll take part in tomorrow's final. That heat was won by Christin Wurth. Rowbury won the other preliminary in 4:11.75. Villanova grad Carrie Tollefson finished eight and failed to advance.
"I'll be back," said Tollefson, a member of the 2004 U.S. team. "I don't want to be a onetime Olympian."
In the hours before yesterday's race, Koons sat in her hotel room watching a What Not to Wear marathon on TV. The good news and good performance had left her relaxed, confident.
"[Thursday] night gave me confidence," she said. "I can't wait to get back out there. I want to win, of course, but if I don't, I know I'll give it my best. It's been a tough year for me and I'm just so happy it could end like this."
Her ordeal began last spring. She didn't know why, but she wasn't happy with how she'd performed in Villanova's 2007 outdoor season.
