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Avid polo player dies after fall

PALM BEACH, Fla. (UPI) -- Summerfield "Skeeter" Johnston III, governor at large of the U.S. Polo Association, has died after being trampled by his horse in Florida.

Johnston, a Palm Beach resident, was at his Everglades Polo Facility in Wellington, Fla., practicing, The Palm Beach Post reported. Jimmy Newman of the International Polo Club said Johnston was victim of a "freak accident."

Johnston's great-grandfather founded the first Coca-Cola bottling company, and his father is the biggest stockholder in The Coca0Cola Co., except for the company itself. Johnston held a number of jobs within Coca-Cola.

He was an active sportsman who hunted and fished in addition to playing polo. He was on a number of title-winning teams and co-founded the North American Polo League.

"Skeeter was a wonderful, wonderful man," said Charles Smith, the league's executive director. "He was extremely bright and energetic, and just a person that we all really thought a lot of and looked up to. It's obviously a difficult time for all of us."

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 04/07/2007

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