By Kyle Coppola
Logan Thompson: Leaving A Legacy of Excellence at Leesburg High
When you look at Logan Thompson, you are looking at one of the greatest scholars and athletes to come out of Leesburg High in the school’s history. Thompson just recently graduated with a 5.26 Weighted GPA.
Thompson is involved in almost every club and activity you can think of and is also a stellar athlete. Logan competed on the Leesburg weightlifting team for the past few years, making it to states and becoming a 2-time team champion with Leesburg High.
(Logan Thompson has a 5.26 GPA. He is gifted athletically and academically. He will be attending UF in the fall majoring in Enviornmental Engineering.)
Individually, for his senior year, Logan took 2nd place in the Olympic class in the 238-pound weight division. Thompson finished with 580 pounds of total weight, just 5 pounds off of Colton McNeely from Lecanto, who won with 585 pounds.
Logan contributed heavily to the team’s overall win. Other weightlifters like Jeremy Lacey finished 1st in Traditional and 2nd in Olympic, while Kayden Adams would take first place in the Olympic weightlifting 129-pound class. Others contributing included Savion Latimore, Zach Field, Jamahr Williams, and Ryan Thompson, who is Logan’s younger brother.
“I love my younger brother. We get to competing sometimes, and it’s such a thrill to weightlift with him. He’s a star in the making,” says Logan.
(Logan puts up a big lift. He would go on to finish 2nd at the State Championships in Lakeland. Photo Credit Jeanelle Henderson.)
When he is not in the weight room, Logan is taking part in a lot of activities. When I say a lot, this kid is involved in well over 15 different activities at the school. That list includes Beta Club President, Key Club Vice President, National Honor Society Vice President, Science NAS Treasurer, Student Government Association Programming Director, Interact Member, BSU Member, Hi-Q Trivia Club, Jacket Ambassadors, Weightlifting Team Captain, Swim Team Captain, Soccer Team Player, and Tennis Team Co-Captain.
When asked how he handles it all, Logan said, “It’s a lot, but I like being busy. It keeps my mind engaged. My advice is to make a good friend group, find a good group of guys who encourage you and really allow you to become a better person,” says Logan.
Logan says his focus on school stems from a B that he got in 4th grade. “The only B I ever got was in the 4th grade, and I took a look at that, and it was heartbreaking. As I got older, my parents pushed me to be the best I could be, and they encouraged me to seek out good study habits. I took that to heart and said I am not going to let that happen again, and here I am with a 5.26 GPA. If you work hard enough, you can accomplish anything you put your mind to,” says Thompson.
Logan plans to attend The University of Florida in the fall to major in Environmental Engineering with hopes to lift for the UF Weightlifting team along with playing Rugby.
“This is the kind of guy who leads by example. Logan is exactly what a student-athlete should be. He used his four years at Leesburg wisely. He worked hard, sacrificed a lot, but enjoyed every moment he spent here, and that is very admirable,” says Head Weightlifting Coach Josh Boyer.
Asked what his favorite part of the season was, “It’s not the state championship, but when guys would fail and get back up to try again. No matter what team it was if a guy would fail once or twice, when they would hit the lift on the third attempt, the atmosphere was electric. That’s what makes weightlifting so special is the bond you have with not only your teammates but others at the competition or training sessions,” says Logan.
Logan intends to keep a close eye on Leesburg Weightlifting. The team is hoping to eventually win both Olympic and Traditional State Championships. The past few years have been focused on Olympic weightlifting, but Traditional is on the radar. “We will get there and are working towards that. All in good time,” says Josh Boyer.
Logan’s brother Ryan Thompson is also an exciting young weightlifter. Ryan placed 2nd at States this year and would love to place 1st at states in the future. One thing is for certain. Logan Thompson is leaving a great legacy behind at Leesburg High. Not only as an athlete but especially as a scholar. He is the definition of a student-athlete. That is something to be very proud about.
We wish Logan Thompson the best of luck as he prepares for his Freshman year at the University of Florida in the fall.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
