Sports cream cited as reason of death for high school track star

I try to keep things as light-hearted as possible here at Hat Trick, but one of today’s headlines on Sports Illustrated’s website (linked from CNN.com) really caught my attention. Arielle Newman, a budding young star in track and field at Notre Dame Academy on Staten Island, died abruptly in her sleep on April 3rd.

The cause of death? High levels of methyl salicylate, a substance commonly found in sports creams used to soothe sore legs after running or exercising. From the article:

The medical examiner’s spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove, said the teen used “topical medication to excess.” She said it was the first time that her office had reported a death from using a sports cream.

This death is not only tragic beyond words, but is also frightening to think of sports in a larger context. High school sports are rapidly catching up to both collegiate and professional sports in the usage of steroids and other performancing-enhancing substances. And while sports creams don’t qualify as a performance-enhancing substance, it is still a foreign substance that is being absorbed - in Newman’s case to a lethal amount - into these still-developing young bodies.

Unfortunately, I feel that Newman’s case will not be enough to drive parents and athletes to call for change. Virtually every year there are stories of high school athletes dropping dead on the practice field, or killing themselves because of depression caused by excessive steroid usage. But it all seems to fall on deaf ears. And with that, we continue to lose bright young athletes, and more importantly, bright young people.

(Thank you to reader Caity for correcting the date.)

Roundup: NCAA track qualifiers announced

Hockey brackets set: The NCAA released the official brackets for both the men’s and women’s ice hockey championships Sunday. Middlebury College returns to both tournaments this year as the defending national champion. Their path to a repeat looks to be more difficult this year, as Plattsburgh State claimed the top women’s seed with a 25-0-2 record. On the men’s side, top seed Saint Norbert enters with a record of 24-3-2. Both championship games will be broadcast online.

Track announcements made: The NCAA also released the official list of qualifiers for the national championships in both men’s and women’s track and field yesterday. On the men’s side, Wisconsin Oshkosh had the most individual qualifier (13). On the women’s side, Wisconsin La Crosse qualified a meet-high 15 members.

My bracket busted? Well, not quite. But it would be fair to say that I had mixed results in the first weekend. In my women’s bracket, two of my final four teams (Hope and Lake Forest) are already eliminated, so that’s not helping at all. But otherwise I have nine of the Sweet 16 teams, including my two championship squads (Bowdoin and NYU). On the men’s side only one of my final four teams is out so far (Trinity College). I also have nine out of the Sweet 16 teams, including my championship teams (UW-Stevens Point and Wooster). More updates to come after this weekend.