Arizona State University releases initial findings into August 20th workout

With less an two weeks before the Sun Devils open the season at Lindenwood, and just over a month since Matthew Mayich's collapse, Arizona State University and Senior Vice President, Educational Outreach and Student Services James Rund have released the initial findings from the workout that led to Mayich's hospitalization.

In short, the timeline of events submitted with the findings does not suggest anything about the workout was out of the ordinary. A series of calisthenics were performed at the direction of outside trainer Tim Ziesel for approximately an hour, with a water break 20 minutes in at the direction of head coach Greg Powers. The temperature reading at 6:51am, approximately 9 minutes prior to Ziesel's introduction to the team, was 86 degrees with 51% relative humuidity, registering in the upper end of the moderate range of the university's heat illness guidelines. By the time of the final huddle before a "wind down" run direction was issued (between 7:51 and 8:06am), the temperature was 87 degrees with 49% relative humidity, reaching the high range of the aforementioned guidelines.

Between 8:20 and 8:30am during the "wind down", Mayich struggled and fell, attempted to get up, and fell down again. Training staff on site directed him to stay on the ground and began treatment by applying iced towels and pouring cool water on him. As his condition deteriorated, 911 was called and EMS requested.

According to university guidelines, onsite guidelines state that a cold tub half-filled with water should be prepared with 3-4 coolers of ice next to the tub before the outdoor event in case immediate use is needed. The initial report does not suggest that this was followed.

The report goes on to say that Matthew was cleared for athletic participation on August 13th, a week prior to the workout, after his arrival to Tempe on August 12th, and completed three voluntary strength and conditioning workouts in the week following. All athletes were advised in a team meeting and in writing that the workout was to occur on the 20th, with the direction to rest and hydrate beforehand.

These findings do not appear to be a conclusion of the internal review, more of an update issued to university President Michael Crow. ASU Police Department is conducting their own investigation, as is their discretion to do so under university police guidelines.

The report concludes with committing to a comprehensive review of the current practices in place by the university, as well as engaging a panel of experts to provide any recommendations for best practices.

In an article by Katie Strang of The Athletic, attorney Rob Carey was not satisfied with the findings released by the university.

“This report, it’s more advocacy than fact-finding,” Mayich family lawyer Rob Carey said. “It completely misses the point. I’m just blown away that they’re offering up a committee to come up with new policies. The problem is not that ASU lacked policies. The problem is, no one followed them. They literally violated every policy they have, and their conclusion is, ‘Let’s call for a blue-ribbon panel to tell us about policies?’ Mind-boggling. We’re a month later, and ASU’s report holds no one accountable.”

Further comments by Carey indicate that the timeline does not offer a clear picture of how long the water break lasted, and questioning whether later groups in the exercise had access to an adequate break period.

Matthew remains hospitalized at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix; no change to his condition has been announced. We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.