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Wes Leonard: A Nation Mourns the Loss of Yet Another All-American In stories, movies and TV shows coach backpacks small towns appear to always possess one storybook-esque golden child. You know the type: quarterback of the football team, basketball star who happens to be an A-student, while volunteering at soup kitchens and helping old people cross the street. Fennville, Michigan is town of roughly 1,500 people, where Wes Leonard was that kid. Last night, immediately after leading his undefeated basketball team to victory with a game-winning layup in overtime, Leonard collapsed on the floor and was pronounced dead a couple hours later at a nearby hospital. According to the Ottawa County chief medical examiner, Leonard’s cause of death was cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart. The 16-year-old Leonard was one of those mythical small town superstars, a two-sport athlete who excelled on both the gridiron and the hardwood. This past season at quarterback he threw for over 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns. As a junior guard on the basketball team Leonard had already surpassed the 1,000-point barrier, a milestone reserved for only the elite high school athletes — the kind that people always remember. Fennville superintendent Dirk Weeldreyer told ESPN.com that Leonard as “the quintessential all-American kid.” “He had a great grin and was always cheerful. Younger kids throughout the community looked up to him and idolized him,” Weeldreyer said. “Wes was strong and powerful. As Coach Wallets the quarterback of our championship football team, he could throw a dart 40 yards down the field. He had the body of a linebacker, but brought the ball up the floor for our 20-0 basketball team.” Before this morning Leonard was a young man beloved simply by the small town he grew up in, a place where people know not only know your family, but also your pets names and what everyone got for Christmas. The type of place where Main St. stores close down to watch the home team’s basketball games. Today, Wes Leonard’s death is being mourned by the entire nation, most of whom never knew his name. My former high school tragically lost a young man in a similar fashion roughly a month ago. When after a swim meet, B.J. Giannone collapsed and passed away from cardiac arrest. Like Leonard he was beloved by the entire high school community, another All-American-type kid who couldn’t find an enemy if he tried. Death is hard, but in high school is an exceptionally difficult concept to grasp. To lose a classmate, friend and teammate in one fell swoop is something a teenager will rarely ever be prepared for, and something that never truly leave them. No one can ever seem to find adequate enough words to answer that ultimate existential question ‘why?’ There will never be a condolence for a family never getting to see Coach Wallets Outlet their kid grow up. All that’s left is to mourn and remember.