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Nine Granger High football players were taken to hospitals after exhibiting signs of heat exhaustion during a Wednesday morning practice, a Granite School District spokesman said.
The team had been practicing outside for about 45 minutes and were doing "rolls," a drill where players drop to the ground, roll and pop back up, when one player passed out, Granite spokesman Ben Horsley said.
Practice was suspended around 9:45 a.m., and players were brought inside the school, where two more came forward with symptoms of exhaustion. Over the course of the morning, nine students in all said they had symptoms, and each student was taken to a hospital.
"They were taken as a precautionary measure," Horsley said.
"They were all in good condition and they were alert, even the student who passed out. You just can't take a risk in a situation like this. If a kid says he has symptoms, he needs to be checked out."
Horsley said the team arrived at the school around 7:30 in the morning for conditioning and a film session. District officials are checking for "any anomaly" that might have caused the issue, but Horsley said the players had all been practicing since June in more extreme temperatures, and the practice was "probably even a little lighter than normal."
He also said water was available on site during practice.
Officials believe nutrition might have played a role. When polled by their coach, only 20 percent of the players said they had eaten breakfast before practice.
"That's going to play a major factor," Horsley said. "That's of great concern to us."
Twitter: @aaronfalk —