A high school student in New York died Monday following his first football practice of the season.
Miguel Lugo, 17, was listed as a 6-foot, 180-pound middle and outside linebacker on the website Hudl. He collapsed following practice Monday but no official cause of death has been released.
“My 17 year old nephew, Miguel Antonio Lugo, tragically passed suddenly on Monday evening at football practice,’’ wrote his aunt, Angela Morales on a GoFundMe page, according to the Times Herald-Record. “He was a vibrant and healthy boy who lit up any room that he walked in. Now his family is left here to wonder why. Why Miguel. He had a heart of gold and anyone who knew him loved him dearly.”
“This is extremely sad,’’ said David Coates, Section 9 football chairman. “You hate to see it happen to anybody, but being so young, Miguel had his whole life ahead of him. … Our heart and prayers go out to the Lugo family and to the Wallkill community. Just sad, an extremely sad day for Section 9 football.’’
According to the Herald-Record, this is the third death of a football participant in Section 9 in the past year. Roscoe coach and athletic director Fred Ahart and New Paltz coach and Section 9 committee member John Ford both passed from cancer since last season.
