Shippensburg Football Player Dies

[GreenBat]

Shippensburg Football Player Dies

By Associated Press

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - A Shippensburg University football player died after becoming ill while running sprints during practice Tuesday, the university said.

Vince Bernardo, 17, a freshman from Flourtown, Pa., was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m. at Chambersburg Hospital, a little over an hour after getting sick, the university said.

Bernardo, a 6-foot-2, 270-pound offensive lineman from Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, was among 106 football players participating in the early morning workout at Robb Sports Complex, the first official drill of the season.

The university said he was running 110-yard sprints when he started to struggle with the conditioning drills about 19 minutes into the workout.

After starting to breathe deeply, Bernardo tried but was unable to finish the drill, the school said. A trainer found him alert and responsive, but the school said he was taken to the training facility, where his condition worsened and an ambulance was called.

Trainers and other university emergency and safety personnel were administering CPR when the ambulance arrived, the school said.

"The campus community, especially members of the Red Raiders football team, are deeply saddened by the death today of Vince Bernardo," said Jody Harpster, the school president. "He was well-liked by his teammates, and our coaches expected him to be an important part of the team. His friends said he was excited about being on the team and had trained hard during the summer to play football at the collegiate level."

Coach Rocky Rees said the coaches and players were devastated. "He was very much a part of our family," he said.

Bernardo's high school coach, John Staudenmayer, said: "He was the kind of kid that you want your son to grow up to be."