Free State sophomore C.J. McTizic takes a drink of water during football practice. Temperatures have soared into the triple digits during the first two days of fall sports practice Monday and Tuesday, necessitating high water intake.

Two Free State High football players wound up in the Lawrence Memorial Hospital emergency room Monday, a sign that temperatures in the triple digits were taking their toll on high school athletes at the start of fall workouts.

The first, a sophomore male, was taken to LMH by ambulance around 6 p.m. after passing out shortly after reporting trouble breathing. The second checked in to the ER on his own Monday night with complaints of cramping.

The Lawrence school district said a Free State staff member accompanied the first student to the hospital, and officials notified the boy’s parents.

As of Tuesday afternoon, both boys were said to be recovering well. Free State athletic director Mike Hill said he was pleased the incident was handled correctly and credited the coaches and sound district policies for the quick recovery.

“It’s not like it used to be, where you said, “Hey kid, here’s a piece of ice'” Hill said. “It is part of athletics, and the safety of our kids is paramount to that. The young man is in good shape, and our people did an excellent job of attending to his needs. This incident shows that our policies are solid.”

With Monday marking the first day of the season, the policy on heat precautions became a point of emphasis throughout the district, as teams in all corners of the city stepped onto practice fields with temperatures higher than 100 degrees.

Hill and his Lawrence High counterpart, Ron Commons, provided handouts and tips for staying cool and made sure their coaches were educated on the district’s heat policy.

Those tips included unlimited water breaks, wearing light clothing, finding shade whenever possible and urging athletes to pay attention to their bodies. At LHS, football players cooled down at the conclusion of afternoon drills by relaxing in tubs of ice water lined up outside of the West gym.

Some coaches, such as Free State girls tennis coach John Renberger, cut back on drills to ensure that his athletes didn’t overdo it.

“Less running,” Renberger said. “We did almost half of the amount of running that we normally do. A lot of kids want to tough it out, but they need to stay healthy, and you have to be even more sensitive to the way your body reacts to the heat under these conditions. Sometimes, you may need to just stop entirely.”

The LHS cross country program also pulled back on Tuesday, modifying its distances because of the weather.

As the years go by, science continues to make advancements in keeping the body cool. Not long ago, sport drinks such as Gatorade and Powerade were nowhere to be found, and athletes had to rely on water to keep their bodies hydrated. According to Jeremy Goates, head trainer at LHS, drinking water, and plenty of it, remains the best way to keep the body’s core temperature low.

“The best thing you can encourage your athletes to do is hydrate,” Goates told a room full of coaches at LHS’s annual fall sports meeting. “And not just during practice but in the evenings and at home on the weekends, too.”

Free State soccer coach Jason Pendleton agreed and added that common sense could go a long way this time of year.

“When I played football in high school we were lucky to get water,” Pendleton said. “But as coaches, we know that’s not the way to do it today. The biggest thing you can do is prepare your body to be out in the heat and there’s no other way to do that than by getting out in the sun and gradually letting your body become acclimated to the weather.”

The area’s high temperatures are expected to remain around the century mark today but should cool down into the low 90s for the rest of the week.