Two weeks ago, CMU senior and club cross-country athlete Kenzie Grant collapsed during an organized practice. Grant’s friend, Mariah Schmidt, who is on CMU’s varsity cross-country team, was with her during the incident and took action that quite possibly saved her life.

“(Grant) and I were running an eight-mile run in the desert and we were probably within the last mile,” Schmidt said. “She said that she was kind of dizzy and ended up tripping and falling. I ran over the hill and started yelling for help and by the time I came back, she did not look good. So I had her lay down and almost immediately she became unresponsive. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her pupils were super dilated. It was terrifying.”

After Schmidt successfully waved down help and paramedics were called to the scene, Grant was airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital, where she was treated for heat stroke. Coach Gig Ledbetter explained that during this time doctors were worried that she had stopped breathing. She was held under observation for a number of days following treatment before being released late last week.

Grant was on CMU’s varsity team two years ago before she injured her knee and had surgery that put her out of competition. The following year she took a break from school. When Grant returned to CMU, she and Ledbetter decided that she should start on the club team to ease back into things.

“Club usually runs a shorter run,” Ledbetter said. “Kenzie, we had decided this year, was Club. Well, she went the long route. And being a little out of shape and she was so excited to see some of her old friends, I think she sort of just hung with them, and almost near the end she just collapsed.”

The collapse sparked conversation about a possible change in an NCAA rule that states Club and Varsity athletes should not practice together. Ledbetter has been writing letters to the administration of CMU for meetings about the topic and has raised concerns about what might have happened if the team and staff weren’t present.

“It’s all about safety,” Ledbetter said. “I think I’ve convinced them that it’d be safer for all if they have some sort of combined system. Let’s just say that if we hadn’t have been there (when Grant collapsed) she certainly could have died.”

jdredmon@mavs.coloradomesa.edu