Four high school dancers overexerted themselves Saturday night and had to be taken to the hospital.
The girls -- from the Media and Technology Charter High School in Boston -- performed at the Break the Stage step competition hosted by the African Student Organization in Cohen Auditorium.
After their performance at about 10:00 p.m., they left the building and sat in front of the Alumnae Lounge. They soon began having trouble breathing.
One Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) car, a Tufts Emergency Medical Services SUV, two Somerville Fire Department fire engines and an ambulance arrived on the scene at about 10:15 p.m.
The responding TUPD officer's report said the girls were "sweating profusely and hyperventilating." The girls were given oxygen. Two were taken to Somerville Hospital and two were taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.
The TUPD report said the cause was "possible heat exhaustion."
Nine groups performed at the show, but only five competed. The two high school groups and the two Tufts groups were not part of the competition.
"They had finished performing," African Student Organization President Temi Ogunbodede, a junior, said of the high school girls. "Nothing happened on the stage." She said the girls were the only members of their normally eight-person group to show up and they were nervous performing on a college campus.
According to Ogunboded, the high school girls were treated and released by the hospitals and are now fine.
