TEEN ATHLETE LAID TO REST; DISTRAUGHT MOURNERS PAY RESPECTS.Byline: Amy Collins Daily News Staff Writer More than 600 friends, family and shaken high school athletes attended the funeral Tuesday for pole-vaulter Heath Taylor, recalling the 17-year-old athlete as a loving, friendly, supportive person who also enjoyed skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding. ``The pain of emptiness grips my body today and I feel so helpless,'' Hart Principal Laurence Strauss said during the Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church Our Lady of Perpetual Help, also known as St. Mary's Catholic Church was built in 1902 and is located atop St. Mary's Mountain in Altus, Arkansas. The church is on the National Register of Historic Places and has over five hundred members. . Taylor, the No. 2 pole-vaulter on the Hart varsity team In the United States and Canada and UK, varsity sports teams are the principal athletic teams representing a college, university, or high school or other secondary school. Such teams compete against the principal athletic teams at other colleges/universities, or in the case of , died April 29, hours after he slid off the landing mat A prefabricated, portable mat so designed that any number of planks (sections) may be rapidly fastened together to form surfacing for emergency runways, landing beaches, etc. after clearing a 10-foot jump. The safety of the landing mat is being investigated. Students were dismissed early from William S. Hart High School Hart High School may refer to:
vestibule of aorta a small space at root of the aorta. was stacked with red Hart duffel bags, carrying the athletes' gear for the track and field meet they planned to attend immediately after the services. Taylor was practicing for that meet when he was fatally injured on his last jump. In the women's restroom, more bags were on the floor, as solemn girls pulled black dresses from their gym bags to change before the services. During the service, Hart track coach Larry David recalled Taylor's strength of character. As for pole vaulting pole vaulting: see track and field athletics. , ``he cared only about improving, about doing his best,'' David said. Meagan Shannon, a pole-vaulter on Hart's girls' team, struggled through tears to read a letter she had written to Taylor after he had died. She said she was scared the first time she saw Taylor pole-vault. ``I thought to myself, `Wow, what guts. I want to try,' '' Shannon said. She went on to place first in each meet, but she credited Taylor with getting her off to a solid start. Ominously recalling her fears about her first jump, she said she told Taylor she was afraid she'd fall. Choking back tears, Shannon said Taylor reassured her by saying, ``If anyone were to fall, it would be me.'' Madonna Taylor, Heath's stepmother, thanked a long list of people for their help through the tragedy, and then told how she and Heath's father, Carl, picked out the casket. She said that several days ago they selected a very nice one; it said ``Going Home'' on the inside. She continued her story, saying that only last night did she learn what Taylor's last words Last words are a person's final words before death. For a list of well known last words, see or use the link at right. Last words may refer to:
`` `I'm going to make one last pole-vault, then I'm going home,' He's home with God now,'' Madonna Taylor said. As the students entered the church, they directed long glances toward the TV cameras setting up in the balcony. Taylor has been grouped with two other high school athletes who were also killed in fluke sports accidents in the past two weeks. On April 22, Craig Kelford III, 15, of Palos Verdes' Peninsula High School Peninsula High School is a public high school located in Purdy, directly north of the city limits of Gig Harbor, Washington. It is built on a hill overlooking Henderson Bay and Burley Lagoon. History Peninsula High School was founded in 1947 in its current location. was killed by a discus during a track meet, and this past Sunday, Kriston Palomo, 16, died from injuries sustained during a baseball game for St. Bernard High School "St. Bernard High School" may be United Kingdom
or pan or flat or dry lake Flat-bottomed depression that is periodically covered by water. Playas occur in interior desert basins and adjacent to coasts in arid and semiarid regions. del Rey. Outside the church doors Tuesday, track team member Mark Whalen stood in the suit he wore through the ceremony. Three yellow school buses lined the street in front, waiting to take him and the other athletes to a finals track meet at College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. . Whalen said he had his red T-shirt to wear - standard garb for Taylor - and grabbed at his puka shell Puka shells are pieces of a Cone Snail shell. Puka is the Hawaiian word for "hole" and refers to the naturally occurring hole in the middle of the shell fragment. As the name implies, the shell of the Cone Snail is cone-shaped, being closed at the larger end. necklace, which matches one worn by Taylor. Whalen said he had less than a half-hour before he started his high jump and pole-vault events. ``I'm going to do it for Heath,'' Whalen said. A memorial fund has been set up by friends and teammates to help Heath Taylor's family with funeral costs. Checks can be made out to The Heath Taylor Memorial Fund and sent to William S. Hart High School, 24825 Newhall Ave., Newhall, CA 91321. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos Photo: (1--color in SAC edition only) Heath Taylor's casket is brought indoors during the funeral service for the teen at Our Lady of Perpetual Hope Church in Newhall. (2--color in SAC edition only) Mourners arrive for the funeral service of Heath Taylor, a Hart High School pole-vaulter who died during practice. (3) Mourners rise as pallbearers carry student athlete Heath Taylor's casket into the chapel of Our Lady of Perpetual Hope Church. Myung J. Chun/Daily News |
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