Trainers, coaches, employ tactics to banish PEDS

By Chandler Rome

March 3, 2013

New, unused baseball being injected with multiple syringes of steriods.

Steroids.

Just the word itself raises eyebrows. It has broken down the mightiest of the mighty, called into question the most untouchable of records and artificially assisted the ushering in of a new generation of sports fans to an ever-changing landscape.

Whether they’re racing out of the starting blocks or stepping into the batter’s box, track stars and baseball players find themselves more scrutinized under the black cloud of speculation.

Speculation recently found its way to the NCAA, seen in late January when Miami’s entire baseball team was subject to human growth hormone testing after one of its assistant strength coaches, Jimmy Goins,

was linked to the now-defunct Biogenesis of America, LLC — a company that reportedly sold HGH to Alex Rodriguez.

While the results weren’t immediately made public, Miami released a statement saying that in 10,000 tests performed on Miami student-athletes, there wasn’t one positive result.

It’s hard to pinpoint what just one positive test could mean. LSU senior associate athletic trainer Shelly Mullenix said Tiger athletes have the option to self-refer, at which point he or she would see the licensed psychologist and social worker the school has on staff.

If the athlete doesn’t self-refer, he or she leaves the door open for a bombshell—and that’s exactly what LSU got last November.

THE VACATION

That bombshell came in the form of Methylhexaneamine. It’s not termed a steroid, but nevertheless is still a banned stimulant found in common over-the-counter substances.

LSU senior sprinter Semoy Hackett tested positive for the drug last fall, and for only the second time in NCAA history, a women’s sports team had to vacate a national championship (the other was UCLA softball in 1995 for scholarship violations).

No one can really know if Hackett was aware of her misstep – she called the violation “unintentional” in a news release. LSU associate sports information director Will Stafford declined The Daily Reveille’s request to speak with Tiger track coach Dennis Shaver.

NCAA policy states it “conducts testing at all of its championships,” and that’s where Hackett’s positive test occurred — at the 2012 Outdoor National Championships.

Mullenix said the NCAA showed up on campus more often than usual in the fall, but wouldn’t pinpoint Hackett’s test and the ensuing vacation as the impetus. She cited phoning a colleague at Alabama who said that program was subject to the same treatment.

“We normally see the NCAA probably twice a year,” Mullenix said. “So to have had them in three times within probably a four-month period is a big deal.”

PROCEDURE AND PREVENTION

Mullenix explained the NCAA shows up on campus at various times of each season, requesting a random sampling of rosters from each team to test, and added football, track and baseball were the three general sports it focuses on.

Anyone on any team is subject to a test, from a first-year walk-on to a consensus All-American, no matter the media hype or lack thereof surrounding the individual.

While not commenting specifically on Hackett’s case, Mullenix said a self-referral or positive test by a particular athlete opens the door for more stringent testing of the individual, but not of the entire team, unless an athlete gives them reason to.

Each individual sport also carries out its own in-house, random testing. The baseball team uses a three-prong attack to avoid positive tests, employing trainer Jon Michelini, strength and conditioning coach Jeremy Phillips and coordinator of sports nutrition Jamie Mascari.

As baseball players gain interest in a new substance, each is required to email all three aforementioned individuals, who then check the ingredients and details of the product before rendering a decision.

Michelini said he’s had to deny players products several times and doesn’t place the blame on the athletes themselves, but moreso in the persuasion they face from nutritional stores.

Phillips echoed Michelini, saying that no matter the standards he and his colleagues work so hard to uphold, the industry sometimes overtakes the athlete.

“The supplement industry is a billion dollar industry and if they want to make money, they’re going to find their way,” Phillips said.

Eight baseball players are typically selected at a time for an in-house, randomized drug test, occurring at either 6:30 a.m. or right after practice with less than 24 hours notice, according to Michelini.

Although he said he had not heard about the incident in Miami, Michelini scoffed at the notion that what happened to the Hurricanes’ program might be more prevalent than the public thinks.

“I would say it’s more likely an isolated incident,” Michelini said. “With as much regulation as the NCAA has now with drug testing and as much attention that we get like this, I can’t imagine this is happening to that extent anywhere else.”

This is the first in a two-part series detailing steroids and steroid testing among LSU athletes.