Flowers, golf balls and a sign with a cross were laid at a memorial for the six New Mexico college students and their golf coach who were among nine killed Tuesday in a fiery crash in West Texas.
“These kids were great kids and they were great, great community members,” said Ben Kirkes, manager of Rockwind Community Links, where the students practiced in Hobbs, New Mexico. “They were polite and they were just a pleasure to be around.”
Kirkes helped set up the memorial at the golf course in the city near New Mexico’s southeast border with Texas.
The students died Tuesday after a pickup truck crossed the center line of a two-lane road, hitting a van that was carrying nine students from the men’s and women’s golf teams at the University of the Southwest, a private Christian school near New Mexico’s southeast border withTexas. They were returning home from a tournament in Midland, Texas.
Head coach Tyler James, 26, of Hobbs, New Mexico, was among those killed. The students who died were identified as: Mauricio Sanchez, 19, of Mexico; Travis Garcia, 19, of Pleasanton, Texas; Jackson Zinn, 22, of Westminster, Colo.; Karisa Raines, 21, of Fort Stockton, Texas; Laci Stone, 18, of Nocona, Texas; and Tiago Sousa, 18, of Portugal.
THE CRASH:9 dead in crash involving University of the Southwest golf teams
The two people in the pickup truck also died: driver Henrich Siemans, 38, of Seminole, Texas, and his 13-year-old passenger, who has not been identified.
University of the Southwest Provost Ryan Tipton said Thursday that the two students who were critically injured remained at the hospital and were making steady progress.
“There is no indication for how long it’s going to take, but they are both stable and recovering and every day making more and more progress,” he said during a press conference.
A counselor and worship team are on campus to support grieving students, Tipton said.
As a Christian university, he added, “we also place our faith in something bigger than ourselves, and that’s what helps us heal.”
Here is what we know about the students and the coach:
Laci Stone
Before Laci Stone, 18, left for college, she had a request for her mother: She begged her to get a matching tattoo.
Now, her mom, Chelsi Stone, is glad she did.
“I’m so forever grateful that God gave me the courage to go through with it and always have this memory with her,” Stone said in a Facebook post, alongside a photo of the two with tiny, red heart tattoos on their arms.
Stone remembered her daughter as “an absolute ray of sunshine” and said her family, including her two siblings, is devastated by the loss.
“We will never be the same after this and we just don’t understand how this happened to our amazing, beautiful, smart, joyful girl,” she wrote.
The last public post on Laci Stone’s Facebook was a happy birthday tribute to her mother last year. Stone, who majored in global business management and dreamed of being a business owner, grew up in Nocona, Texas, according to her USW Athletics profile. Her hidden talent was juggling, and her favorite competition ritual was doing the Lord’s prayer.
Stone graduated from Nocona High School, where a softball game on Wednesday was canceled following the crash, the school said on Facebook. Instead, dozens of people gathered on the field to pray, and the city’s water tower was lit with orange lights in memory of Stone.
jackson zinn
Jackson Zinn, 22, of Westminster, Colorado, was majoring in hospital management with a minor in sports management, according to his USW Athletics profile. I graduated from Ralston Valley High School in Colorado in 2018 before attending New Mexico Military Institute from 2018 to 2019.
Several Facebook posts offered prayers and condolences for his family.
Travis Garcia
Travis Garcia, 19, of Pleasanton, Texas, majored in criminal justice and wanted to be a professional golfer or work for the secret service, according to his USW Athletics profile. He graduated from Pleasanton High School in 2021 and is survived by his parents and one sibling, according to the profile.
Tab Dumont, athletic director for the Pleasanton Independent School District, canopy news station KSAT that the school district is “in shock and grieving.”
“Not only was Travis a phenomenal golfer and a great kid, he came from a great family,” Dumont said. “His mother of him used to work in the district, and Travis was doing great things in college and in life.”
karis raines
Karisa Raines, 21, of Fort Stockton, Texas, was a biology major who hoped to become a forensic scientist, according to her USW Athletics profile. Her favorite precompetition ritual was her to pray and listen to music, and her favorite sports memory was her very first hole-in-one.
Her father, Gary Raines, mourned his “beautiful baby girl” on Facebook and posted a link to a verified GoFundMe page to support her family.
“The Raines Family has suffered such a tragedy in losing their daughter Karisa,” according to the GoFundMe page. “If you find it in your heart, any amount will help this family with the expenses required during this difficult time. Karisa was such a beautiful and kind soul who will be deeply missed by everyone.
mauritius sanchez
Mauricio Sanchez, 19, of Mexico, was a freshman, according to his USW Athletics profilewhich doesn’t include any more details.
Tiago Sousa
Tiago Sousa, 18, of Portugal, was a freshman, according to his USW Athletics profilewhich doesn’t include any more details.
Coach Tyler James
Tyler James, 26, was in his first season as head coach of the USW men’s and women’s golf program, according to his university biography. James also helped coach golf teams at Brownwood High School in Texas, Howard Payne University and East Texas Baptist University. I have played collegiate golf at Ottawa University in Kansas and Howard Payne University in Texas.
“That was his dream job, to be a head coach and he was living out his dream,” said Ryan Erwin, vice president for student engagement and athletics at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall.
Troy Drummond, the head golf coach at Howard Payne University, said James played for three years at Howard Payne and helped coach the team his last year. “He had a passion for golf,” Drummond said. “… He’d pretty much eat, sleep and drink golf.”
A verified GoFundMe pageas well as a donation page organized by the universityare aiming to raise funds for the families of James and the students who were killed and injured in the crash.
Two students critically injured
An additional GoFundMe page was organized to help support the family of Dayton Price, 19, one of the students who was injured and airlifted to the hospital. Price, of Mississauga, Ontario, was in critical condition with third-degree burns to much of his body, according to the GoFundMe page.
The organizers of the page refer to Price as “our beloved friend and rising Canadian golf superstar” and hoped for a speedy recovery “so he can return to what he does best and represent Canada in the game he loves the most… Golf. “
The parents of Hayden Underhill, 20, who was also injured in the crash, were on a plane to Texas on Wednesday, his brother, Drew Underhill, said. Underhill is from Amherstview, Ontario
“Hockey was a big part of life for a while, but his true passion is golf,” Drew Underhill said of his brother. “From a small town in Ontario, he’s doing OK.”
Contributing: The Associated Press
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism