North Carolina A

A student died in a track and field tryout at North Carolina A&T University, with his sickle cell trait blamed in the death, two days after a university official discouraged athletic officials from testing students for the trait until they made teams, The News & Record reported. Roland Lovelace, the chief athletic trainer, sent an e-mail to coaches saying that the tests cost too much to conduct on those just trying out. “Please do not send your student athletes to get a sickle cell test if they are participating in tryouts,” Lovelace wrote in an e-mail. “Please make sure they are actually on the team before this test is done. The reason for this is that the student health center is charging the athletic department for this test to be done.” Following criticism over athlete deaths linked to sickle cell, the National Collegiate Athletic Association required the test of athletes and those trying out, unless they sign a waiver, which the dead student did not do.