Calvary’s Lane Mangum, Logansport’s Tim Wheless honored at game
Jimmy WatsonLOGANSPORT – Powerful emotions lurk just beneath the surface for Jackie Mangum, and they’re prone to erupt anytime she allows herself to think back to June 1, a day that forever changed her family.
That’s when her only son, Hayden Lane Magnum, a multi-sport athlete at Calvary Baptist Academy, died in a boating accident on Lake Bistineau.
“Lane was such an amazing child. We never had any issues with him. He was rarely sick,” said Jackie Mangum while fighting back tears. “He was always the most loving child and cared about everyone he came in contact with.”
Mangum was due to be wearing his No. 16 jersey and playing on the defensive line for Calvary in his team’s opener Friday night in Logansport’s Tiger Stadium. Instead, fans of the Tigers and Cavaliers bowed in silence for the 15-year-old Mangum and for longtime Logansport statistician Tim Wheless, 52, who died of complications related to COVID-19 a couple of weeks ago.
Both were integral to the successes of their programs over the past few years. Wheless was on the sidelines when the Tigers won the 2016 LHSAA Class 1A state football title. And Mangum was on the field when Calvary won the 2018 LHSAA Division III baseball title and last year’s LHSAA Division IV football crown.
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“Winning that baseball championship was probably the greatest day of Lane’s life,” Jackie Mangum said. “He had more heart than any player I’ve ever seen. When they lost the year before, he hung his head and cried. I think it’s crazy for someone so young to have such a big heart.
“But he finally reached the goal he had always wanted.”
Top-ranked Calvary routed Logansport 47-12 on Friday night in Tiger Stadium behind quarterback Landry Lyddy, a Louisiana Tech commit. The Cavs won big despite having a punt blocked, losing a fumble, having more than 100 yards in penalties and having a player ejected for fighting.
Logansport hasn’t fully recovered from losing football standout Javier Simpson two years ago when Simpson, also 15, developed leg cramps and drowned in the Sabine River. The death of all three individuals is a stark reminder that no one is guaranteed tomorrow.
Jackie was going through her daily routines around 4 p.m. on that Monday in June when she received a call from Lane’s father, Chris.
“He told me to come to the spillway as soon as I could because there had been a boating accident in the boat Chris had purchased a couple years ago so Lane could compete with the Calvary bass fishing team,” she said. “At first, I figured he just needed help getting the boat out of the water.”
Surrounded by family, friends and Calvary supporters, the Mangums would spend the next 15 hours waiting on the banks of Bistineau for law enforcement personnel to find Lane, who had gone over the treacherous spillway, while fishing buddy, Cade Bedgood, was able to swim to safety.
“Bossier and Bienville parish officials did not stop looking for my baby. They did their job and more,” Jackie Mangum said. “But my Lane was gone.”
Friday night was about remembering two individuals who loved a sport that is loved by millions. Then life moved on, as it is prone to do.
A natural athlete who was championship-caliber in baseball and football, loved duck and deer hunting as much as he loved driving a fastball over the center field wall. When deer season opened, he’d rise at 4 a.m. to get in his stand quickly to watch the sun rise.
Mangum’s football talents weren’t needed Friday night for Calvary. But in the quiet of the evening, as fans bowed in silent prayer, you could almost hear a soft voice just above the Logansport press box.
“’Let’s go, baby. Let’s go do this’ — that was Lane’s favorite way to pep up his team,” Jackie said.
Twitter: @JimmyWatson6