Bridgeport Teen to be Remembered at Game

When Bridgeport opens its football season Friday night, the pompoms and megaphones of Leslie Denison and Becca Logan will be on the sidelines, a tribute to the two teens.

Denison, 17, a cheerleader and cross-country runner at Bridgeport High School, was killed Tuesday afternoon after an awning collapsed on her and Logan as they ran by a downtown gym.

A preliminary engineer’s report indicates that structural fatigue caused the awning to collapse.

Logan, 17, also a cheerleader and cross-country runner, suffered facial cuts and was treated at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. She returned home early Wednesday.

"Becca is doing much better," her father, Brad Logan, said Wednesday. "They did surgery on her face last night. She will be fine, but it’ll take a little while."

The community has been very supportive and gifts, cards and calls have been pouring in, he said.

At the high school, students and staffers created a makeshift memorial of flowers, pictures, teddy bears and messages. "Both of the young ladies are just absolute model students — outgoing individuals in everything, National Honor Society, cheerleading, basketball, cross country; just unbelievable young ladies," Bridgeport Superintendent Eddie Bland said.

Grief counselors and clergy members were at Bridgeport schools in case students and faculty members needed to talk, Bland said.

Denison’s mother, Marcie Cox, is a second-grade teacher at Bridgeport Elementary School, Bland said.

"There’s a lot of heartache, not just on that campus, but through the rest of the district and the community," he said.

School started this week, and Friday’s football game against Breckenridge is the season opener for the Wise County school about 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth.

Friday’s planned pep rally has been canceled, said Jaime Sturdivant, principal at Bridgeport High.

"Having a pep rally just didn’t feel right," she said.

But she said officials decided to play the game because "it’s what Leslie would have wanted them to do."

Sturdivant described Denison as an all-American girl, the one you would want your daughter to emulate and your son to date. Logan was her best friend.

"They were always together," Sturdivant said. "That’s what makes this accident really a tragedy because she has to deal with surviving and her best friend being killed."

Denison and Logan were running past Club Barbell, a private gym in the 1100 block of Halsell Street, about 4 p.m. Tuesday when the building’s awning gave way, authorities said.

Engineers’ preliminary report suggests that structural fatigue may have caused the awning to fall, said Amber Fogelman, the city’s spokeswoman. Age may have also been a factor, she said. The building has been in downtown since the 1960s. City officials are looking at other buildings downtown to make sure there are no other hazards, Fogelman said.

"It still appears to be a freak accident," Fogelman said.

Denison’s was the second unexpected death to affect the community this year. In April, police Sgt. Randy White, 32, was killed when his parked patrol car was rear-ended by a sport utility vehicle during a high-speed chase.

"The community was just starting to bounce back and get into a regular routine," Fogelman said.