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Revisiting stories of preps past

 
When Sunlake High players took to the field against Hernando in a spring football game — breaking through a banner that says, “This one’s for you X” — they were unsure if teammate Xavier Johnson would survive injuries sustained in a tubing accident. Luckily, this story has a happy ending.
When Sunlake High players took to the field against Hernando in a spring football game — breaking through a banner that says, “This one’s for you X” — they were unsure if teammate Xavier Johnson would survive injuries sustained in a tubing accident. Luckily, this story has a happy ending.
Published Dec. 26, 2015

Another year is in the books and it's the perfect time for revisiting some of the more intriguing story lines of the past year in high school sports — and updating those stories a bit while we're at it. More, 4C

DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times

Taking on all challenges: Christina Lang is a single-leg amputee who found normalcy and success in competitive swimming. The Dunedin High senior, who lost her leg before she was 2 years old because of complications from the chicken pox, started swimming seven years ago after watching her older brother swim laps at the Clearwater YMCA pool. She has held her own against able-bodied swimmers. This high school season, she qualified for the region meet in the 500-yard freestyle for a second straight year. Against swimmers with other disabilities, Lang continues to shine. Two weeks ago at the Can-Am Para Swimming Championships, Lang swam in five events and took bronze in the multi-class S10 division of the 400-meter freestyle in a personal-record five minutes, 57.44 seconds. "I felt like I was able to swim really well at that meet," Lang said. "This has just been a tremendous year of achievements."

OCTAVIO JONES | Times

A family first: Just two years ago, Leto's JoJo Bergollo didn't have the grade-point average to become academically eligible for sports, much less be on track to graduate from high school. The fifth child of 13, Bergollo would have been the first in his family, he said, to wear a cap and gown. But early in his time at Leto, that seemed unlikely. That is until baseball coach JJ Pizzio and girlfriend Marcella Parrado came into his life. With their encouragement, Bergollo raised his GPA enough to play baseball and basketball for the Falcons — and he excelled at both. In June, he completed an even bigger goal: graduating from high school. Bergollo is enrolled at Hillsborough Community College, and though he suffered an arm injury that could likely sideline him forever in baseball, Pizzio said Bergollo plans to try out for the HCC basketball team. "It took a lot of people at the school to make it happen. He had a lot of work he had to do," Pizzio said. "I get a kid like JoJo every year, so it's always good to see more succeed than not succeed. But he's on the right track now, and he accomplished step No. 1 which was graduate from high school."

DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times

Fight for X: On May 16, Sunlake linebacker Xavier Johnson was in a tubing accident in which he suffered a traumatic brain injury that put him in various hospitals for 90 days. Slowly but surely, though, with the help of his attentive parents and therapists, Johnson made the kind of progress that, early on, his doctors thought wouldn't be possible. After leaving Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital in Jacksonville in August, Johnson started an inpatient therapy program at Tampa General Hospital, much closer to his Land O'Lakes home. In November, Johnson — who is still progressing physically but was found to have no permanent cognitive deficiencies — came home for good. "Just the reality of him still being here with us, and not just that, but having him home (makes us grateful). People ask me how Thanksgiving was, and honestly, it was the best Thanksgiving I ever had," said his father, Ross Johnson. "Just to really be able to appreciate life and what it means to be thankful and blessed by God. The holidays began for us when we brought him home."

JAMES BORCHUCK | Times

War Gator? Armwood defensive end Byron Cowart was the story line of the day on Feb. 4, and not just because he was the nation's top recruit in the class of 2015. National signing day had plenty of drama thanks to Cowart, who announced that morning that he was signing with Auburn. But the commitment was in limbo with every hour that passed, as the letter was never faxed. And, according to his high school coach, a letter to Florida was also in play. By the end of the day, Cowart did indeed pledge to the Tigers, with whom he played in 12 regular-season games as a true freshman.