MONROE – Union Academy recognized six student-athletes May 8 for their commitment to continue their academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level. 

Surrounded by family, friends, coaches, and teammates, each athlete signed to represent their future schools in their respective sports.

The following Union Academy seniors were honored:

• Brett Moore, baseball, Montreat College.

• Michael Hughes, football, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

• Antonio Sanchez, cross country/track, Pfeiffer University.

• JaLynn Kendall, women’s soccer, Concord University.

• Tamryn Goodson, track and field, Wingate University.

• Sarah Cogswell, club wrestling, Colorado State University.

“These six student-athletes represent the best of what Union Academy stands for – dedication, perseverance and a commitment to excellence,” Athletic Director Justin Frashier said. “We’re proud of all they’ve accomplished and can’t wait to see what they achieve at the next level.”

FLINT, Mich.– Claressa Shields has her next opponent in the boxing ring.

The “GWOAT” will defend her Undisputed Heavyweight Championship against former IBF Heavyweight Champ and current IBF Light Heavyweight Champ Lani Daniels on July 26 at Little Caesars Arena.

Shields joined sports director Alex Eisman to discuss the announcement, her fight prep, and more.

Hear from Salita Promotions President Dmitriy Salita on the fight announcement:

Shields’ fight will be the first ever defense of an Undisputed Women’s Heavyweight title.

The UK is facing what charities are calling an eating disorder epidemic, with an estimated 1.25 million people affected. These conditions have the highest mortality rate of any mental health illness, making early intervention and education urgent.

Yet, within the world of sport, eating disorders often go undetected and unchallenged. Disordered behaviour, such as restricting food intake, purging, binge eating, or abusing laxatives, are sometimes normalised in competitive environments, embedded into routines and disguised as dedication.

Eating disorders thrive in silence. They’re secretive, isolating and can affect athletes of all genders, ages and backgrounds, whether at grassroots or elite levels.

In sport, several factors can trigger or worsen disordered behaviour: pressure to perform, body dissatisfaction, weight-category requirements and cultural ideals of what an “athletic” body should look like.

In this context, harmful practices like dehydration, extreme weight-cutting and overtraining often become accepted – and are sometimes even encouraged.

Read more:
How fighters make weight in combat sports – and regain it for the match

In some sports, the risks are tragically clear. Take bodybuilding. One heartbreaking example is 20-year-old Jodi Vance, who died from heart failure caused by dehydration during preparations for a competition.

In combat sports and martial arts, eating disorders are frequently acknowledged, yet meaningful solutions are rarely discussed. Fighters like Paige VanZant and Kay Hansen have openly shared their struggles with disordered eating, which in many sports, is still dismissed as just “part of the process”.

Extreme tactics

Even worse, some coaches perpetuate a toxic culture by fat-shaming athletes or joking about serious conditions like bulimia. In such environments, young athletes can become trapped in cycles of physical and emotional harm.

In my own research with UK-based mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, I spent months observing and interviewing athletes across various gyms. Many described extreme weight-loss tactics before fights – dropping both fat and water weight in dangerously short time frames. These methods took a toll on both their bodies and mental health.

I witnessed fighters collapse from exhaustion and dehydration. I heard coaches make jokes about eating disorders. One fighter told me: “I don’t even recognise myself anymore,” echoing the public experiences of UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett, who has shared his struggles with binge eating and body image.

These stories hit close to home.

During my own time in MMA, I developed atypical anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder. I was praised for rapid weight loss – not for my skill or performance. At one point, I was training to the point of experiencing heart palpitations, dizziness and nausea. Yet, these symptoms were brushed off as signs of “good training”.

Eating disorders don’t discriminate

Even when I lived in a larger body, I was still suffering from an eating disorder. This is a crucial reminder: you cannot tell if someone is unwell just by looking at them. This isn’t just an issue in fight sports. Disordered eating affects athletes across many disciplines.

Footballer Katrina Gorry, cricketer Freddy Flintoff and cyclist Davide Cimolai are just a few high-profile athletes who have spoken publicly about their experiences.

In fact, disordered thoughts can affect athletes at any stage of their careers. Today, even after competing internationally in American football and Australian rules football, I still live with disordered thinking around food and body image.

Elite female athletes can be particularly vulnerable. According to the 2023 female athlete health report, 74% of respondents said they didn’t feel like they looked like an athlete and 91% worried about their calorie intake.

The 2024 BBC study on elite British sportswomen found similar results, reflecting the persistent pressure to conform to narrow body ideals.

Read more:
Elite female athletes at greater risk of eating disorders

There have been some encouraging policy changes. In MMA, emergency rules now ban extreme weight-cutting methods like IV rehydration, where fluids and electrolytes are administered directly into a vein, bypassing the digestive system. British Gymnastics, the body governing competitive gymnastics in the UK, has banned coaches from weighing athletes – a major move given the sport’s documented issues.

However, these steps are just the beginning. Power imbalances still exist across many sports, where coaches wield enormous influence over an athlete’s health, body and sense of self.

Coaches can either be a force for recovery – or part of the problem. They must be better trained to spot early signs of disordered behaviour, provide support and promote a culture that values mental wellbeing over appearance.

To create safer sporting environments, we need better signposting for athletes on how to get help, education for coaches and staff on eating disorder awareness, a cultural shift from bodily perfection and towards sustainable performance and health and athlete-first policies that protect both physical and mental wellbeing.

Recovery is possible. But prevention – through awareness, education and empathy – can save lives long before treatment is ever needed.

Sport should be a place for strength, growth and resilience – not hidden harm.

If anything in this article causes distress or concern about eating disorders, visit the BEAT website for more information and support.

As the 2024-25 school year comes to an end, we honor the senior athletes who have graduated from WSU and are leaving Pullman for bigger and better things. This is the 2024-25 Daily Evergreen senior athlete farewell series.

Ashley Hollenbeck Willems was a senior sprinter who came to WSU in 2021 when she began running the 60-meter sprints. Her first meet as a Cougar was the Spokane Invitational on December 11, 2021.

She earned her first top-ten finish in the 2022 Lauren McCluskey Invitational with a time of 7.94 seconds. She earned her first top-three finish when she finished second at the 2022 Sam Adams Classic with a time of 12.44 seconds in the 100-meter sprint.

In 2023, she began to compete in more events, moving into the 200-meter and 300-meter events. In 2024, she won her first events.

She won the 100-meter sprint in the 2024 Sam Adams Classic with a time of 12.27 seconds. She followed that up with two more first-place finishes, winning the 200-meter race in the 2024 Whitworth Peace Meet and the 100-meter race in the 2024 Whitworth Twilight and Alumni Meet.

In 202,5 as a senior, Hollenbeck Willems won the 60-meter spring in the Inland Northwest Invitational. She was also part of the 4×100 relay team that won first place two weeks ago at the Cougar Classic.

Off the racetrack, Hollenbeck Willems met her husband, Ethan Willems on the WSU track team. They were married in June of 2024. Ethan Willems was also a sprinter for the WSU track team.

Miami Heat veteran Kevin Love continues to use his voice away from the court.

His organization, the Kevin Love Fund, announced the release of the Athlete Mental Health Program. The program is dedicated to developing safe environments and conducting activities to fuel better mental health for athletes. It features mental health professionals, sports psychologists, and former athletes in a collaborative effort to improve mental awareness in the sports world.

Love’s Fund describes the program as an “evidence-based curriculum created to help athletes explore their identities beyond sport and strengthen their mental and emotional well-being.”

Love expressed his personal journey that fuels his passion for this ongoing movement. He sat down with Miami Heat On SI to discuss the program.

“I’ve spoken a lot in the past about my identity and who I am being so tied to sports, and so much of this is about that identity development,” Love said. “It’s helping athletes explore who they are outside of the sport, and helping them stay present and balanced.”

He discussed the importance of athletes exploring their identities and value outside of their athletic products.

“Being able to have that understanding that we are more than the sport that we play is incredibly important,” Love said. “I think has allowed me to empathize with others who might feel the same.”

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Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Miami Heat on SI. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.