Dominick Bess was an incoming freshman on an academic scholarship at Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx.

An avid athlete, Dominick was at home on the basketball court or in the water, or just running among herds of cows and goats on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, where he spent part of his childhood.

When he enrolled at the Mount, as the Catholic school is known, Dominick decided he wanted to play for the storied football program, and on Monday, he had his first preseason workout with the junior varsity team.

But soon after the start of his second day of workouts, on Tuesday, Dominick, 14, collapsed while running sprints. Coaches performed CPR to try to save him, but was pronounced dead a short time later at Montefiore Medical Center.