Grief enveloped communities across North Texas on Saturday after four women’s softball players from North Central Texas College were killed when an 18-wheeler veered across the Interstate 35 median and slammed into the team’s bus late Friday.
Head coach Van Hendrick was driving 15 players south to Gainesville after a scrimmage against Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Okla., when they were hit by the northbound semi near Turner Falls about 9 p.m. Friday, authorities said.
The bus rolled and landed on its side. The semi kept going until it landed in a grove of trees about 100 feet off the interstate, Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Ronnie Hampton said Saturday.
Three women died at the scene, and one died at an area hospital. All were from Texas.
The Highway Patrol identified those who died as Meagan Richardson, 19, of Wylie; Brooke Deckard, 20, of Blue Ridge in Collin County; Jaiden Pelton, 20, of Telephone in Fannin County; and Katelynn Woodlee, 18, of Dodd City, also in Fannin County.
All of the survivors, including the driver of the semi, were injured. By late Saturday, only two — both of them players — remained hospitalized.
Bailey Buchanan, 18, of Crandall in Kaufman County was listed in critical condition at the Oklahoma University Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Rachel Hitt, 19, of Scurry in Kaufman County was listed in stable condition at Norman Regional Hospital.
Hendrick was treated at the scene. A woman who answered the phone at his Gainesville home Saturday said he was not going to talk about the accident.
The truck driver was identified as Russell Staley, 53, of Saginaw, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. He was treated and released at a hospital in Pauls Valley, Okla.
Staley told police he was distracted by something inside the truck’s main cabin, but Hampton declined to say what that distraction was.
No arrests had been made Saturday. Staley does not appear to have any criminal history in Tarrant County.
The National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to Oklahoma on Saturday to assist the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in the investigation. Hampton said the investigation, which will include toxicology reports on both drivers, could take months.
NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said the NTSB will interview the two drivers, collect evidence for later analysis, and provide support to the grieving families.
“Our mission is to find out not only what happened, but also why it happened so it does not happen again,” he said.
Sumwalt said the truck was operated by Quickway Transportation of Nashville, Tenn. A message left with the company was not immediately returned Saturday.
In an emotional news conference Saturday, NCTC president Brent Wallace said the crash was the most traumatic event the school has faced in its 90-year history.
“As each of you might imagine, words are difficult for us this morning,” he told reporters.
NCTC is a two-year junior college that was founded in 1924, according to its website. The Gainesville campus is home to about 2,500 students. On Saturday, the school brought in counselors for students and staff, Wallace said.
At Wylie High School, more than 50 people huddled around the pitcher’s mound at the school’s softball field Saturday afternoon to grieve Richardson’s death.
A Wylie High Pirates balloon swayed next to a display of flowers, old softballs and photo of the NCTC pitcher.
“Meagan was a dedicated teammate and a wonderful sister and daughter with her future in front of her,” a statement from the school read. “She will not be forgotten by anyone who was fortunate enough to know her.”
Former Wylie High teammate and 2011 graduate Jill Carter quickly organized Saturday’s vigil after hearing the news late Friday night.
“I’m not all that surprised [by the crowd], just because of who Meagan was,” Carter said. “When she was your friend, she was your friend.”
Although the atmosphere was somber, the group shared laughs on several occasions, recalling stories of Richardson’s competitive but friendly nature.
“She was spunky and she had an attitude and everyone could tell from a mile away,” friend Brooke Elkins said. “But if you were loved by Meagan, you were loved. She would do anything for you in a heartbeat, and she would drop anything in a second for you.”
According to her Facebook page, Richardson worked as a nanny and was studying special education at NCTC. She planned to get engaged and attend nursing school after graduating, friends told KXAS-TV (NBC5).
Richardson’s parents attended the vigil but declined to comment publicly.
Deckard was a sophomore at NCTC who played infield positions for the softball team. She graduated from Blue Ridge High School in 2013.
Pelton, also an NCTC sophomore, was a catcher on the team, according to the roster. She graduated from Sam Rayburn High School in Ivanhoe in 2013. Attempts to reach her family Saturday were unsuccessful.
Woodlee, a freshman who played infield positions, graduated from Dodd City ISD in 2014. According to her Twitter page, she moved into her dorm at NCTC in late August and was rooming with a fellow softball player.
North Central Texas College softball team posted a statement to its Facebook page Saturday afternoon.
“NCTC Softball would like to thank each and every one of you that has reached out to us tonight,” the statement said. “We lost 4 beautiful amazing girls tonight.”
The Texas Rangers held a moment of silence at their game Saturday night against Oakland. And hundreds of people, including many from far beyond Texas and Oklahoma, took to Twitter and Facebook to offer condolences.
“Just learned of horrible tragedy. Praying 4 injured N. Central TX College players and families of those who lost their lives. #PrayersforNCTC,” football star Tim Tebow tweeted.
The crash left players at Southern Nazarene University, where NCTC had just scrimmaged, shaken as well.
Kayla Yager, a Southern Nazarene player, told KXAS-TV (NBC5) that she will never forget reciting the Lord’s Prayer with the NCTC squad after Friday’s game.
“When we got the text, it just broke my heart,” Yager told KXAS. “I just couldn’t believe those girls we had just played against and prayed with after the game, some of them are not here anymore.”
The Associated Press and staff writer Daniel Houston contributed to this report.
nrajwani@dallasnews.com; jfancher@dallasnews.com
Prayer vigil scheduled
Among services and gatherings being planned in memory of the victims of Friday’s crash is a prayer vigil at 8 p.m. Sunday on the North Central Texas College campus, 1525 W. California St. in Gainesville.
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