By Cody Schott
Michael Boggan â09 wakes up each morning to a simple breakfast of an english muffin or pancakes. But, these foods arenât exactly what they seem to be. The key ingredient, gluten, is substituted with rice or corn. For all of his life, Celiac disease has inhibited Bogganâs ability to eat whatever he wants.
Celiac disease is caused by a malfunction of enzymes in the small intestine. The nutrients from gluten cannot be absorbed and causes a serious reaction. Boggan was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 2.
Fast forward to 12th grade, and he brings a Zip-loc container to school each day with his lunch. Some days it’s “quesa-dogs” (corn tortilla and cheese wrapped hot dogs); other days it’s rice-crusted pizza. Sometimes he’ll get enchiladas, and other times he’ll get rice-based pasta. He munches on string cheese during the day, and when he feels like it, he’ll buy a salad from the salad bar. Eating like this has become second nature to him.
“I’m so used to not eating gluten, I don’t even notice,” Boggan said.
Boggan is the starting goalie on the water polo team. The team has already defeated high ranked competition both in preseason and regular season play. Some of the credit belongs to Boggan, who has been keeping the net safe ever since Max Lubin â08 graduated.
He is the next goalie following in the footsteps of Brian Pingree â07 and Lubin, and there are more underclassmen in the wings.
As for Boggan, his patience playing at the varying levels of high school sports has paid off, and his teammates appreciate that. Fellow goalie Bryce Tobias â10 is among them.
“He knows what he needs to do and he’s always ready to step up to the plate,” Tobias said.
Boggan attributes his leadership role on the team to his ability to work hard and lead by example. He does that, almost to a degree of notoriety.
Once in Little League, Boggan said, he went for a fly ball during warm-ups, and ended up with multiple stitches above his eye. His team won the game, and Boggan was given the game ball as a token of his commitment to the team.
When Boggan gets out of the pool after each game, he takes solace in knowing that he can still get an In-N-Out burger; it just has to be protein style.
