Norman cross country and soccer standout Patrick Ahearn remained hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday in a Florida hospital.
The 17-year-old, who was set to captain the Tigers' cross country team this year, was injured Sunday when a rented personal watercraft he was driving hit a boat. The boat's propeller cut off Ahearn's left leg below the knee.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Stan Kirkland told The Associated Press that the family aboard the boat was not injured and the operator saw Ahearn's watercraft approaching and tried to avoid the collision unsuccessfully.
TIME TO REBUILD AT HERITAGE HALL
Gone are longtime starters like Barry J. Sanders, Sterling Shepard and Cale Courtney, along with several others in last year's senior class at Heritage Hall.
Now, coach Andy Bogert is going back to basics in his coaching with Tuesday's first practice.
“We're young and inexperienced,” Bogert said. “We can't assume these guys know what the guys in the past knew. So we're doing a lot of teaching early, and it's a good time to teach, since we're not in pads. We're working on our basics and getting our terminology down.”
To emphasize Bogert's point about the Chargers' youth, there are 41 players on the team currently, and 19 of them are freshmen.
“We have a really nice freshman class, a really good group,” Bogert said. “But as far as getting on the field, there will only be a few of them that will get a chance. So we're basically playing with 22 or 23 kids.”
And there's no rush to get to the regular season. Clinton, Davis and Kingfisher — all state championship contenders in their respective classes — are on the Chargers' schedule in the first four weeks.
MCGUINNESS GOES LATE
In trying to avoid the heat of the day, Bishop McGuinness ran up against an unexpected obstacle — rain.
Tuesday evening's showers kept the Irish from starting their practice on time,
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