Savannah Rennie had just one wish on this recent September night, and she whispered it so her ears alone could hear. Get me on the court right now. Her first volleyball practice without any restrictions in more than a year was still hours away.Shed be able to sprint. Shed be able to jump. Shed be able to hit. Shed be able to dive.The 19-year-old redshirt freshman outside hitter at Cal would be able to be herself again. Savannah, the volleyball player. It was an identity stolen from her as she battled congenital hepatic fibrosis with portal hypertension -- a rare disease that took her off the court and threatened to take her life.A successful liver transplant saved her.Not even four months had passed since the operation, but Rennie felt no fear as she stepped onto the court at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.She never has. Not when she taught herself to ice skate at 2 years old and to swim and ride a bike at 3. Not when she struck out boys in baseball and craved the bat when the bases were loaded with two outs. Shed be the fireman that runs toward the fire, said T. Pat Stubbs, Rennies former Del Mar (California) Little League all-star coach.A Cal teammate set the ball to Rennie in hitting lines. She rose up, took her first swing and smashed the ball down.For Rennie, who could play in her first Division I match when the Golden Bears host Utah on Friday, the hit was more than a hit.It was freedom.I am where I am today because Im strong enough, Rennie said. I was given a second chance and now Im going to make the most of it.***On June 3, 2015, Rennie returned to her parents home in San Diego after a night of volleyball. She felt a pounding headache and then nausea. She had a 103-degree fever that rose to 105 in the early hours of June 4.Her abdomen throbbed and she couldnt eat or drink. She made multiple trips to urgent care before being admitted to the hospital for eight days. Twelve doctors plus a liver specialist administered test after test as Rennies liver rapidly expanded in size.She became septic, a life-threatening condition in which the infection in the body invades the bloodstream.Rennie worried she wouldnt make it in time for Cal summer school and training camp. Savannah doesnt take no for an answer, said her mother, Renee Giroux-Rennie Shes just: Volleyball is life, and whatever it takes, thats what shes going to do.Doctors couldnt pinpoint a diagnosis but managed to get her sepsis under control. She went 500 miles to Cal, taking antibiotics to manage the pain.Until she couldnt. One day she passed out while standing in line for coffee and returned to the hospital for six days. She went back and forth from Cal to San Diego for more tests, like the one that removed a large wedge of her liver, almost like a slice of pie.Growing more ill each day, developing pancreatitis after a test, she felt powerless: Why me? Why, at the peak of my athletic career at 18 years old, am I going through this? Rennie said.I always had that constant, living on the edge of fear like, What is going on with me? Am I going to be OK tomorrow? Am I even going to wake up tomorrow? she said.Another fear seized her.I didnt know if I was ever going to be on the court again.She contributed any way she could in practice -- shagging balls, keeping score and refereeing.Shed stay late after practice, said freshman outside hitter Maddie Haynes, Rennies best friend. If she could just have a hand on a volleyball, that would make her happy.Sometimes, though, she could barely stand up. Cal coach Rich Feller would tell her to leave so she could lie down.No, Rennie said. Im staying.She became the whiteboard guru, rewriting Fellers practice plans -- squares, circles and boxes -- and ensuring all the numbers and lines were immaculate. She relished the feeling of having a role on the team.She decided that she would fight the same way shed fight an opponent, Feller said. How fast can I get back? How fast can I do something that the doctor said I shouldnt be doing yet? And when she wins one of the battles, she moves forward and tries to win another.By mid-September 2015, doctors finally diagnosed the disease, which typically affects infants, many of whom die at birth, or seniors, as the disease stays dormant until late in life.Rennie, 18, was an anomaly.She needed a cure -- fast -- because her liver kept enlarging due to the backup of bile from the organ. That backup entered the blood stream, making her septic and thus at risk for death.She had been taking medication, including a form of bear bile called ursodiol. Im the only true California Bear on this team because I have bear bile, shed joke, managing a smile.For the first time, she had hope.But she became septic from Thanksgiving through Christmas. Doctors worried they couldnt prevent it from happening because she was growing resistant to the antibiotics, which were crucial to keeping her alive.A liver transplant was the only option.While awaiting the transplant, shed manage her pain by arriving at Haas Pavilion, her sanctuary, every day at the sleepy hour of 5 a.m. to hang IV bags of antibiotics and fluid out of her arm.She finally moved to Indianapolis in March 2016, with her mother, to receive care at the Indiana University Transplant Center. And wait. She was offered a liver toward the end of the month. But the liver was high risk, which means that the donor had participated in one or more of 13 high-risk activities, including drug addiction, incarceration and receiving IV fluids.Not knowing which activity, and terrified of potential consequences, Rennie declined the liver.Finally, on May 16, she was offered a healthy liver and accepted. The operation, which usually takes four to six hours, began at 6 a.m the next day. The doctor came out at 8 a.m. to speak with Rennies parents and Haynes, who was tweeting updates.Were done, he said.In two hours?It could not have gone any more perfectly, the doctor said, shaking his head in disbelief.***Rennie has not lost her competitive fire -- the same fire that expected to bat a thousand as a 13-year-old baseball player. The same fire that wanted the ball in the big moments as a high school volleyball player.She handles that pressure, said Brennan Dean, her former coach at Torrey Pines High School and WAVE Volleyball Club. She thrives in it.Rennie knows it is practically unheard of to return to the court and potentially play in a Pac-12 match for Cal (6-8) just over four months post-operation. But she still wants more. Sometimes she struggles to accept that she isnt able to jump as high or move as quickly as she used to.Not yet, at least.Shes way further ahead than anyone expected her to be, said Feller, who thinks Rennie is physically ready to contribute in a match.Her next chance will be against Utah on Friday. Or possibly Sunday against Colorado. On Oct. 14 against Arizona, Cal will host Be The Match night, an organ donation awareness event, in Rennies honor. A representative from Donate Life will be on hand to educate fans about organ donation, and discounted tickets will be available for those with proof they have registered as an organ donor.After one recent practice, Rennie taped her iliotibial band, which runs down the thigh, after she felt a strain.Thats great, Feller said.What do you mean? Rennie said.Youve got tape on for an athletic injury. Its an athletically related thing, Feller said. That for her was a big step and an adjustment, like, Look, Im an athlete again. Rennie isnt afraid to show her scar, which stretches across her stomach and resembles both the Mercedes Benz and Air Jordan logos. She wears the same necklace every day: a silver bar with the date of her surgery, May 17, 2016, in roman numerals, honoring, in her own words: The day I got my life back.This is a young lady who literally looked death in the face, said Stubbs, her former baseball coach. She said, Not me, not today. I have much bigger plans. Cheap Air Max Ireland . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Air Max Clearance Ireland . 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It was only a handful of few years ago that Ciaron Maher, the son of a dairy farmer in Victorias Western Districts, was a young trainer in Warrnambool with aspirations of an incidental life and love of thoroughbred horses and making it on the big stages of Australian racing.Since making the decision to give it a go just over a decade ago, Maher has trained winners of trophies at racings highest level on six occasions. This Saturday at Caulfield, hell be hoping Bon Aurum can be lucky 7 in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes over 1400 metres.When the bell rang to end his school day, rather than putting his head straight back in the books Maher went to work with local trainer Shayne Fisher. He didnt just help with looking after the small stable, but also learned his initial craft towards becoming a trainer, and a jockey.There were other kids from the Kermond family locally around my age who were going to the pony clubs, hunting clubs, showjumping and eventing. I was helping Shayne breaking horses in, and whenever they were going anywhere -- I was like a part of the family -- I got to experience different facets from an equine sports perspective, Maher told ESPN of his early days.Some people grew up heavily entrenched in racing alone, but I got to experience a good variety. I wasnt really dictated to by anybody to go into racing, thats just the way it happened and Ive been able to draw on all of those parts which has really helped me. Later apprenticed to the late Peter Hayes in Adelaide and in Melbourne, Maher rode with success over the jumps representing Australia in the annual jockeys challenge series against Ireland and also rode in England, Ireland and Dubai.His career as a jockey was stalled by his rising height, in 2005 his career as a racehorse trainer set sail. By 2010 he also set up a second training base at Caulfield, where he now works primarily from the stable building previously occupied by Peter Moody, together with facilities at Pakenham, east of Melbourne, and at Randwick in Sydney.The red-brick Booran Road stables at Caulfield have seen some champions grow and train towards great successes, not least Black Caviar during her 25-win blitz. Add to that, legendary Caulfield trainer Angus Armanasco occupied the site for decades until the late 1990s with top performers like Zedative and Tolerance.It was unbelievable. Really, to think that for us as a team that we could go to Caulfield five years ago and have three boxes, and then to be walking into Armanascos and Moodys old stables with an 80-box barn; it was surreal how it came around but the opportunity arose at the right time. Just two years into his fledgling training career, Maher shot to into the racing headlines when Tears I Cry won the Group 1 Emirates Stakes on the final day of the 2007 Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington at the extraordinary odds of 66-1.I said to dad after I got my [trainers] licence, if Im no good at it after two years Ill come back and milk cows, Maher told the Herald Sun in 2014.Hell not be milking cows any time soon.He has since added two more Group 1 wins in Queensland and two more at Flemington, both in the Crown Oaks, with Set Square (2014) and Jameka (2015). Pleasingly, both horses continue to show great potential in adding to Mahers trophy cabinet this spring.He has also trained won the Grand Annual Steeplechase and the Grand National Steeplechase three times apiece, and his versatility paints like an old-time story as much as one of a modern trainer.And it is literally a small stones throw from his Caulfield boxes that four-year-old Bon Aurum will jump from barrier five in the $500,000 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes, the only 1400 metre Group 1 handicap of the Melbourne Spring Carnival. Bon Aurums only win to-date at Caulfield came in the Group 3 Guineas Prelude over the same 1400 metres trip 12 months ago to the day of his Rupert Clarke task. He returns to Caulfield after an impressive second-up victory at Flemington, over 1400 metres on Sep. 10, that surprised even his trainer.Im really happy with where hes at, hes just come up so well, 36-year-old Maher said.Hes been down at Warrnambool and did most of his work there before going to Flemington. He was a little bit wooly [in his coat] at his first-up start at Caufield and the way he hit the line really well second time around surprised me a little bit.Hes continued on that improving path; his cooat still has a way to go but I think he should be pretty spot on for Saturday.dddddddddddd. With 52kg on his back, the handicap conditions of the race also offer a positive toward Bon Aurums chances.It is tough going to Group 1 level, but the handicap conditions appeal to him and hes a four-year-old stallion so if he can win or place it will certainly help his value.After failing to follow-up with a win in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas last October, the colt was found to have floating bone chips in one knee. The ensuing surgery seems to have healed well and delivered the desired results, albeit a little later than first hoped.It is becoming a very common surgical procedure and [the vets] are getting very good at it. He had it done at the right time. We had to cut it very fine with the timing and he didnt come up as well as we had hoped [in the autumn] but I think the extended break this time has really been the making of him.If injuries can be one source of frustration, other exterior distractions can weigh heavily on a trainers mind -- as seen in recent legal cases over banned substances, etc - and Racing Victoria stewards are investigating the circumstances of the ownership of Mahers 2016 Group 1 Queen of the Turf Stakes winner Azkadellia. How much of an effect does this have on the day-to-day running of a growing training operation? Compartmentalising the daily mindset seems to allow Maher to keep the rest of the business ticking over positively.The quicker these things are sorted out the better but when Im at work Im focused and it is work as usual. Later in the day you might have to go and deal with that sort of stuff, which probably takes away from other things that you might be doing.With plenty of more positive things to look forward to over the next couple of months, both Set Square and Jameka are right in the mix to add to their Group 1 CVs.Set Square put in another eyecatching performance at Caulfield last Saturday in the Group 3 Naturalism Stakes, which was won by Jameka in a very impressive staying display. Having not won since her Oaks victory nearly two years ago, surely another win couldnt be too far away for Set Square?I dont think so. If she can just draw a [good] barrier, I think it will help her a lot. She always has to make long, wide runs, Maher told ESPN.Last Saturday over the 2000 metres she just traveled a little bit keenly, and with having no cover in the race it might have taken a bit away from her in the finish.She had the autumn off and a good break, so were very happy with the way shes going, and she has furnished into a five-year-old mare nicely after being quite light and narrow as a three-year-old and a bit uptight as a four-year-old.Its really good signs going into these longer and bigger races because you know you still have plenty to work with in the lead-up. After her win in the Naturalism, Jameka received a 0.5kg penalty for the BMW Caulfield Cup on Oct. 15.Im happy with the penalty, Maher told ESPN. She was very dominant so I suppose she had to get something. Shes ticking over very nicely and will head not to the Turnbull Stakes [2000m, Oct. 2], which is a no-penalty race, and then onto Caufield Cup.I think she is still on the up and Im just rapt with her. Shes really made the transition from a filly to a mare.The smart three-year-old Throssell is also looking every bit a promising AAMI Victoria Derby (2500m) candidate. Throssell is an early scratching in Saturdays Caulfield Guineas Prelude but that isnt necessarily for negative reasons.Ive always thought that he was a Derby horse - hes quite relaxed in the run.He might be able to win a [Caulfield] Guineas but I thought hes got a better chance to win maybe a Caulfield Classic (2000m, 8 October) and a Derby. Hes got a great set of lungs and tends to relax very well.Hes learning all the time and his work on Tuesday was quite sharp, and with Astern coming out of the Guineas Prelude we thought we might have a go. After drawing barrier 18, that was what changed our minds.Throssells next start is likely to be the Listed UCI Stakes (1800m) at Flemington on Oct. 2.UBET rate Bon Aurum a $6.50 chance in the Rupert Clarke Stakes, while Jameka is the Caulfield Cup second-favourite at $6.50 with Set Square rated a $26 chance. ' ' '