A study released by the Korey Stringer Institute on Tuesday ranked Colorado last among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in its High School Sports Safety Policy Rankings, with scores based on state associations meeting evidence-based best practice guidelines addressing the four major causes of sudden death.

CHSAA’s overall score across the study’s five equally weighted sub-sections — sudden cardiac arrest, exertional heat stroke, traumatic head injury, appropriate health care coverage and emergency preparedness — was 23 percent, far behind leader North Carolina’s 78.75 percent and the mean of 47.1 percent.

But the association said it did not participate in the KSI study, nor did it provide any information in the review of its score as indicated in the Data Collection Procedures of the study.

“My understanding is that we did not respond to (KSI’s) rubric or request for information, because we weren’t sure what the information was going to used for or how it was going to be implemented into a report,” said CHSAA commissioner Rhonda Blanford-Green, who took over the job in July. “That was never made clear to our association, so we did not respond to a third-party request for information.”

You can read the rest of the Denver Post’s story on the Korey Stringer Institute ranking CHSAA last here.