3 University of Wyoming swim team members who died in single-car crash in Northern Colorado identified
By Jesse Sarles
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COLORADO (KCNC) — The three students from the University of Wyoming who died on Thursday in a single-car crash in Colorado have been identified as Charlie Clark, 19, Carson Muir, 18, and Luke Slabber, 21. They were members of the university’s swimming and diving team.
The crash happened about 10 miles away from the Colorado-Wyoming border on Highway 287 in the afternoon. Five people were in a Toyota RAV4 heading south near Red Mountain Road in Larimer County when the RAV4 drove off the road and rolled over. The two people in the car who survived the crash were hurt. They were also members of the swimming and diving team. They were released from the hospital on Friday. The driver of the RAV4 is one of the survivors.
“Initial indications are that the driver swerved and the vehicle went off the road, rolling multiple times,” the University of Wyoming wrote in a news release.
The Colorado State Patrol said in a news release on Friday that preliminary information shows that a vehicle in front of the RAV4 slowed, possibly to turn left onto Red Mountain Road. The driver of the RAV4 swerved left, driving off the shoulder of the road, that’s when the vehicle rolled multiple times.
The cause of the crash is still being investigated and troopers said no factors have been ruled out, including speed, impairment or other distractions.
Clark was a sophomore on the men’s team and a psychology major from Las Vegas, Muir was a freshman on the women’s team and an animal and veterinary sciences major from Birmingham, Ala. and Slabber was a junior on the men’s team studying construction management from Cape Town, South Africa.
Authorities said the group wasn’t traveling to any sort of official school or athletic function on Thursday.
Both directions of the highway were closed for most of the rest of the day on Thursday.
University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel shared a statement about the crash, calling it a tragedy.
“We are heartsick at the news of this terrible tragedy for our university, our state, our student-athlete community and, most importantly, the families and friends of these young people. Words are insufficient to express our sadness,” said Seidel.
The university’s Director of Athletics Tom Burman also said “My thoughts and prayers are with our swimming and diving student-athletes, coaches, families and friends.”
The University of Wyoming Department of Athletics has made counseling services available to student-athletes and coaches; other UW students in need of support are encouraged to contact the University Counseling Center at (307) 766-2187. The Counseling Center is open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and is prepared to support students. Students can also call an after-hours crisis counselor at (307) 766-8989. Employees of the school can call the Employee Assistance Program — specifically, MINES & Associates, at 800-873-7138.
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