Dodge City (Kan.) Community College has seen two student-athletes hospitalized with complications from practicing in the high heat within two days of each other.
According to KCUR, the first athlete was a female soccer player who suffered heat stroke and collapsed at practice. It was 100 degrees outside when that athlete was transported to the hospital and later released.
The second athlete, Delia Montes, was a cross-country runner who collapsed the very next day. The temperature was 105 when Montes began suffering exertional heat stroke and collapsed in a field during a practice run. She was initially admitted to Catherine Hospital-Dodge City, but later airlifted to Wesley Medical Center, where she remained in the hospital over the holiday weekend.
The Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference heat policy states that athletics departments must use the Wet Bulb Heat Globe Thermometer to measure air temperature, and that teams should practice indoors when the WBGT measures over 90 degrees. In the case of both athletes, the temperature was at least 10 degrees in excess of that guideline.
Dodge City Community College released a statement claiming the teams were not in violation of the KJCCC heat policy. “I believe that was following the guidelines. And that's what we're here to do. Since that falls in their guidelines, they could have a meet in that day. Please be advised that we do not maintain records of the WBGT measurements.”
The DCCC athletic director, Jacob Ripple, later doubled down on the school’s statement, saying, “We were within the guidelines set forth by our trainers that set forth everything for the conference.”
The Sheriff was called after Montes’ collapse to open an investigation, but KCUR reported that no criminal activity could be conclusively linked to the incident.
