Women, College Sports, And Mental Health

 

written by STEVE ULRICH your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III >> Good Wednesday morning.  >> Today's Word Count: 1,410 --> 5 1/2 minutes. >> Thanks for reading D3Playbook. Please refer a friend.   A free subscription to D3Playbook. Yes, please. TOP STORY 1. Women, College Sports, And Mental Health   by Nell Gluckman, Chronicle of Higher Education "Many college students are experiencing mental-health crises, but one subset has seen a rash of reported suicides this year: female athletes. On Thursday, Southern University and A&M College announced a cheerleader, Arlana Miller, had died shortly after writing a social-media post that detailed her mental-health struggles, NBC News reported. That news followed the deaths by suicide of three women this spring: Lauren Bernett, a James Madison University softball player; Sarah Shulze, a member of the University of Wisconsin at Madison track team; and Katie Meyer, a Stanford University soccer player. Students are speaking out about the problem and asking for more help in dealing with the pressures they feel as athletes. Last month Cailin Bracken, a Vanderbilt University lacrosse player, wrote an open letter to the college-sports world after learning about the death of another player. She described her decision to take some time off from the sport to focus on her mental health, and urged members of this community to do a better job of supporting players who need help. The Chronicle spoke with two experts about why there is a crisis now and what colleges can do about it. The interviews were conducted separately with Ellen J. Staurowsky, a professor of sports media at Ithaca College, and Joy Gaston Gayles, senior adviser for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion at North Carolina State University, who has published several articles about athletes and mental health. We’ve seen a number of high-profile cases of women athletes dying by suicide. Are they simply getting more attention, or have you noticed this happening more? S: "There’s no question that athletes are experiencing high rates of depression, anxiety, and other forms of mental-health issues at levels that we’ve not seen before. It isn’t a new issue, but there are some things — especially in this Covid era — that are different in this moment. The trauma of worrying about family resources. The switches to an all-Zoom environment. The wear and tear that occurred for everyone as they were going through that. The social isolation that so many of our athletes and our students are feeling. They really feel like they have to just soldier on and keep whatever’s going on with them to themselves." G: "It’s a major concern, and I don’t think that higher-education institutions fully understand the nature of the crisis and how we need to rethink the services we provide so that we can get students the help that they need." How does this crisis affect athletes in particular? S: "People who were close to these young women, and to college athletes more generally, say that trying to balance the academics, athletics, and other things in their life — that those demands have just been escalating." This isn’t just an issue for women, but are there particular pressures that women athletes in college experience? G: "I do think there’s something about this overly masculine culture that’s not good for anybody, even the folks who are considered masculine. You tough it up, you grin and bear it, do your thing. And when your emotions come up, you push them back down because we need to win and dominate." >> Continue Reading FOOTBALL 2. Honoring Larry Kehres   "The University of Mount Union will honor the career of former football player, alum, assistant coach, professor, head coach and athletic director Larry Kehres '71 by creating an endowment, building a plaza, and renaming the stadium in his honor. Ohio's oldest college football stadium will be renamed Kehres Stadium. Inside the stadium, he played quarterback, worked as an assistant coach, then as head coach became college football winningest coach. He also oversaw significant facility upgrades in the stadium over the years, that also included men's and women's soccer playing in the facility along with the addition of men's and women's lacrosse. >> Field Awareness: "He returned to his alma mater in 1974 as assistant football coach and started the swimming program as its first head coach. In 1985, he was named director of athletics and in 1986 he added head football coach duties which he continued until 2013. He left the athletic director position in 2020." >> Between The Lines: "In his 27 years as head football coach, he built one of the most successful programs in all of college football and college sports in general. From 2000-2013, Kehres compiled a record of 182-7 with seven national championships. In total, Kehres' career coaching record of 332-24-3 (.929) makes him one of only 10 coaches in the history of college football to win at least 300 games." >> Of Note: "In 2017, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility." >> Read More BASEBALL 3.   Change at the Top   Kyle Schroedle, Crown There is a new No. 1 team in Division III baseball and it resides in Willimantic, Conn., as Eastern Connecticut State jumped past Marietta in the latest D3baseball.com/NCBWA top 25 poll Eastern Connecticut (14), 35-3 Marietta (10), 35-5 Birmingham-Southern (1), 37-8 LaGrange, 35-6 UW-Whitewater, 33-6 Webster, 34-6 Lynchburg, 33-8 Rowan, 30-8 Salisbury, 27-8 Arcadia, 35-7 >> Conference Standings >> Conference Tournaments to Watch OAC: No. 2 Marietta, No. 18 Baldwin Wallace, RV Otterbein SUNYAC: No. 11 Oswego, No. 12 Cortland, No. 22 Brockport WIAC: No. 5 Whitewater, No. 17 Stevens Point ODAC: No. 7 Lynchburg, No. 20 Shenandoah >> Home Runs: Ryan McCarty (PSU Abington) 28, Kyle Schroedle (Crown) 21, Logan Demkovich (Franklin) 19, Charlie Szykowny (UW-Stout) 18, Jacob Charon (Lawrence) 17, Keegan Vercoe (Northwestern) 17 >> Wins: Sayers Collins (East Texas Baptist) 11, Trent Valentine (Marietta) 11, Sean Holt (La Verne) 10, Wil Wood (Millsaps) 10, 20 players tied with 9 >> Complete Poll A MESSAGE FROM D3PLAYBOOK   Are you a marketer looking to reach decision makers who care about sports? Consider advertising with D3Playbook: Reach decision-makers in college and university athletics. Achieve your KPIs around business development, awareness, and product sales. A large segment of our audience earns six figures per year and makes business purchasing decisions. Let’s Chat SOFTBALL 4. Captains in Charge   Tayah Kelley, Linfield Christopher Newport entered the week still on top of the latest NFCA Division III softball poll. Christopher Newport (10), 37-1 Texas Lutheran, 38-4 Eastern Connecticut, 37-4 Salisbury, 36-6 Belhaven, 38-6 Linfield, 36-7 East Texas Baptist, 32-10 DePauw, 34-9 Virginia Wesleyan, 33-11 Berry, 29-11 >> Regionals to Watch East Texas Baptist: No. 5 Belhaven, No. 6 Linfield, No. 7 ETBU DePauw: No. 8 DePauw, No. 10 Berry, No. 14 Piedmont >> Home Runs: Kaitlyn Hasty (CNU) 18, Kaelani Gamble (Johnson and Wales) 15, Erin Mcgrath (Pacific Lutheran) 15, Noelle Ruschil (MIddlebury) 15 >> Strikeouts: Kayla Simacek (Bethel) 282, Cami Henry (DePauw) 263, McKenna Smith (Husson) 239, Tayah Kelley (Linfield) 237, Kennedy Lehn (MSOE) 232 Conference Tournaments We're Watching ASC: #5 Belhaven, #8 East Texas Baptist, #9 Mary Hardin-Baylor C2C: #1 Christopher Newport, #2 Salisbury >> Complete Poll NEWS 5.   Lightning Round     Golf (W) Emory has a five-shot advantage over Washington (Mo.) after one round of the DIII women's championship. WashU's Annie Mascot fired a 3-under-par 69 to take a one-shot lead.   Golf (M) Carnegie Mellon has a three-shot advantage over Huntingdon after the opening round of the DIII men's championship. The Tartans' William Knauth and the Hawks' Grant Gronka each posted 69s to hold the individual lead.   Rowing (W) Eight teams have been selected for the Division III championship - Ithaca, St. Mary's (Md.), Bates, Wellesley, Pacific Lutheran, Tufts, WPI and Williams. The championships will be held May 27-28 at the Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla.   Baseball Penn State Harrisburg OF Dallas Hite became the 14th player in DIII history to hit two grand slams in a single game as the Lions defeated Penn College, 18-4, on Monday. He was 4-of-5 with three round-trippers and 10 RBI.   Softball Framingham State OF Gwendolyn Carpenter and Alfred LHP Megan Bennett captured the NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Week awards.   Lacrosse (W) William Smith's Allie McGinty and Western Connecticut's Meghan Lorenzen were named the IWLCA Division III Players of the Week.   Track and Field Gallaudet's Eric Gregory and Geneseo's Madison Mulder were named National Athletes of the Week by the USTFCCCA.   Happy Birthday Cake and candles to Brant McAdams, head football coach at Pacific Lutheran.   Do you know of someone celebrating a birthday soon? Drop us a line at D3Playbook@gmail.com. TRANSACTIONS 6.  Comings and Goings   BETHEL - Tim Beasley will resign as assistant baseball coach and assistant AD for communications and marketing CENTRAL - Laura de Rosales named assistant volleyball coach HOPE - Mary VandeHoef stepped down as head softball coach MORAVIAN - Darryl Keckler named head men's basketball coach NORTH CENTRAL (Ill.) - Anthony Figueroa named head men's basketball coach PUGET SOUND - Jay Daniels named head swimming coach ST. JOHN FISHER - Ryan Heasley named assistant football coach   Thanks for starting your day with us. What did you think of today's newsletter?  Please invite your friends to sign up for D3Playbook

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