TUESDAY, SEPT. 18, 2001
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3B
SPORTS
Wyoming runners killed in head-on car collision
The Associated Press
LARAMIE, Wyo. — After spending part of their weekend in Colorado, eight University of Wyoming cross-country runners crammed into a sport-utility vehicle to return to campus for a fraternity outing.
On the way, their Jeep Wagoneer collided head-on with a pickup truck driven by a fellow Wyoming student who had apparently swerved into their lane. The eight runners were killed in the collision. The driver of the truck was seriously injured in what was the latest in a series of tragedies to strike Wyoming athletics in recent years.
"They were focused on going somewhere. That's why this is so devastating," said Wyoming sophmore Ann Hedderman. "It's such an unnecessary loss."
The victims spent Saturday in Fort Collins, Colo., where they planned on shopping for running shoes and visiting nightclubs, said a friend, Curt Mayer. Victim Shane Shatto called fellow fraternity member Sean Cosgrove to see what was happening back on campus, and he said their Sigma Phi Epsilon house was having an event. Shatto he would try to attend.
Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Stephen Townsend said the SUV carrying the athletes collided with the one-ton pickup truck at 1:30 a.m.
Sunday, about 17 miles south of Laramie on U.S.
Highway 287.
All of the runners except the driver were ejected. Townsend said only the driver of the pickup, Clinton Haskins, was wearing a seat belt.
Authorities would not say whether alcohol was involved, but they are investigating.
Haskins. a senior and steer wrestler on the University of Wyoming rodeo team, was in serious condition at Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie.
Sports information director Kevin McKinney spoke with Oklahoma State University officials about how to handle the tragedy. A plane crash in January killed two Oklahoma State University basketball players and eight others after a game at the University of Colorado.
Students and officials said losing eight classmates was compounded by the fact that they had been following the horror of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon last week.
"It's like blackness on blackness," Hedderman said.
Wyoming athletics have been beset by adversity in recent years.
The losses include a former volleyball coach who died in November from brain injuries suffered in a collision, a former cross-country star who disappeared in 1997 while running and still has not been found and a Wyoming football player who died in April 1997 after passing out on the practice field. Later that year, an assistant football coach died from complications of brain cancer.
The victims of the Sunday crash include Shatto, 19; the driver, Nicholas J. Schabron, 20; Justin Lambert-Belanger, 20; Kyle N. Johnson, 20; Kevin L. Salverson, 19; Joshua D. Jones, 22; Morgan McLeland, 21; and Cody B. Brown, 21.
"It's been a very rough week for a lot of people in this country and tragically, it's been all the more rough for our student-athletes and our coaches and all their friends at the University of Wyoming," said school President Philip L. Dubois. "This is a horrible thing."
Big 12 football coaches find ways to fill game-day void
The Associated Press
Kevin Steele hopped on his riding mower and cut the grass. Mike Leach put down his playbook and went to the movies. Terry Allen stopped at the stadium for a subdued tailgate party before going bowling with his wife and three children.
Like most Americans, Big 12 coaches did their best to keep busy and gain perspective after the terrorist attacks that prompted college football to postpone its weekend schedule.
"It was a very empty weekend in terms of what we were able to do and our feelings as well," said Kansas State coach Bill Snyder. "Our youngsters are anxious to move on as well. It will never be the same, but at the same time, it's important we create some diversions in our lives. It's been a very
heavy time for each and every one of us."
Terry Allen: filled time bowling
Both schools have dealt with tragedies in their own community in the past two years.
For Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, the weekend was supposed to offer a final chance to tune up for conference play. Instead, they will open the Big 12 schedule in College Station, Texas, on Saturday.
Two Oklahoma State basketball players were among the 10 people killed when the team's charter plane crashed near Denver in January. The university also mourned after 168 people died in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
"Having been around Oklahoma people in these times, there was a natural strength and buoyancy that comes from them," said Cowboys coach Les Miles. "I think it's reflective of our kids and our state and our country."
Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum said last Tuesday's terrorist attacks evoked emotions similar to two years ago when 12 students were killed in a bonfire collapse on campus.
"There was a real anxiousness about our team," Slocum said. "We talked about life and here we are once again having to deal with this awful reality.
Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury said confusion was the overriding feeling for him and his teammates as they took an unexpected break.
There's a feeling when something like that happens, them being together, there wasn't a big hurry to get out of the room. There was comfort in having someone close to share your concerns with."
"We were just kind of lost," he said. "We didn't know what to do with ourselves. The whole college system had stopped for a weekend. It was a strange feeling."
In the wake of the attacks, increased security is expected at stadiums throughout the country. Most coaches left the details to their athletic departments, and Slocum cautioned about living in a police state.
"You can carry this to the point of being absurd," he said. "You have to do what's prudent and realize that when you get out of bed every day, you assume some kind of risk. A group setting would be more susceptible but you can't spend your whole life by yourself. It would certainly be a boring life."
While moving forward, the Big 12 will make sure not to forget the people who died in last week's attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
Teams plan to wear American flags on their helmets, and Texas players sang "God Bless America" following Thursday's practice and inquired about giving blood or donating money.
"We tried to talk to our players about what they could do to help," said Texas coach Mac Brown. "There's questions of will we go to war. There's questions about being drafted. There's all sorts of questions for an 18-to-22-year-old."
The conference also continued to deal with scheduling questions. The Big 12 championship game is set for Dec. 1 but could be pushed back a week, and schools looked at rescheduling the games that were wiped out last week.
In the short term, coaches and players looked forward to getting back on the field as the country seeks normalcy in a truly abnormal time.
"You can't live in fear," Kingsbury said. "It's a good way to tell people that America's not going to stop and we're going to move on."
Panel looks at Olympics security
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — International Olympic officials asked their lawyers yesterday to study the International Olympic Committee's liability if a terrorist should strike in Salt Lake City.
The Associated Press
"We are examining under what circumstances could the IOC be responsible if something happens, what are the measures we have to take to avoid risks," said IOC board member Marc Hodler.
Hodler is also head of the IOC panel that oversees the Feb. 8 to 24 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. He is scheduled to travel to Salt Lake in late October to inspect preparations.
"First of all, we have to know where the risks come from, how (the terrorists) are organized, what could be the nature of the risks and what measures can be taken against the risks," Hodler said. "That's a very complex problem. Nobody even thought of using civil planes as bombs. They may have other things in mind."
The IOC's ruling executive board opens a three-day meeting today, a regularly scheduled session that is taking on greater importance since the terror attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
IOC and Salt Lake officials have stressed the games will go ahead as scheduled but said all aspects of security must now be reexamined.
Instead of routine business, the meeting will focus on keeping the Salt Lake games safe from terrorists.
"We will reassess and reevaluate everything," said IOC president Jacques Rogge. "When it comes to security, everything has changed since Tuesday."
Rogge said security had been the IOC's top priority since a terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Games claimed the lives of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. In addition, one person was killed and more than 100 injured when a pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Park during the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Salt Lake Organizing Committee chief Mitt Romney was in Washington, D.C., lobbying Congress for additional security money when the terrorists struck.
After the attack, federal lawmakers swiftly bolstered the $200 million Salt Lake security plan. A $40 billion package approved Thursday by the Senate includes another $12.7 million for the Olympics.
"There are myriad targets in civilizations worldwide," Romney told his Salt Lake staff. "We surely recognize that the Olympics have been targeted in the past, at Munich and Atlanta, and we have long recognized the need to have the Olympics entirely secure."
Utah officials said the games may have a more militarized look, with armed soldiers possibly helping patrol streets as Air Force iets guard the skies.
But Romney said the beefed up security shouldn't be excessive.
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WELL HERE'S WHAT YOU MISSED FROM YESTERDAY'S ISSUE OF THE KANSAN:
- Former White House aide promotes greater diversity at KU
- Recent terrorist attacks effect KU basketball recruiting
- Saturday's canceled football game costs KU $340,000
- KU continues coping with recent national tragedies
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