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Thank you for everyone who has sent me kind notes about those lost and injured during this tragedy. If you want to post a comment, please do so at the bottom of any of my blog posts and again, my thoughts are with everyone who has been touched by this situation....
Photo from the CBU website.
RrE
UPDATE NEWS
August 12, 2010
3:15 a.m.
RIVERSIDE --- With five of their classmates still in hospitals with traumatic injuries suffered in a fatal collision near Bishop, Calif., August 9, more than 75 California Baptist University student-athletes gathered at noon today for a time of prayer and remembering.
Student-athletes from the CBU cross country men's and women's teams joined members of the cheerleading squad whose coach was killed in the accident. The student-athletes met for a private prayer service in the Van Dyne Gym. Among those in attendance was student-athlete Brenda Perez, who was released from Northern Inyo Hospital in Bishop, Calif., the previous evening.
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused a Ford SUV to lose control on Highway 395 near Bishop and collide with one of three vans carrying the CBU cross country team members en route to a popular high-altitude training facility.
The student-organized prayer meeting was facilitated by the university's Office of Spiritual Life staff who helped guide the prayer meeting and offered support for those affected by the tragedy. Members of cross country team returned to Riverside on Tuesday night from the training camp road trip that ended tragically with the death of cheer coach Wendy Rice and injuries to a dozen team members. Additionally, two young women were killed in the SUV and four other persons were injured in the collision.
On Tuesday night, the students returned to Riverside to be reunited with family and friends at CBU.
The university is planning a formal memorial service in the coming days, but members of the university community also have been gathering informally to draw support from one another. The midday gathering on Wednesday included a few close friends of Coach Rice who gathered with students in small prayer circles. Many shed tears and grasped one another's hands for support.
Five members of the cross country teams remain in hospitals in Northern California, including Miguel Gonzales, Alicia Catanese and Alyssa Neimeyer. Marisa Benson is in Riverside, and Rebecca Trupp, an incoming freshman from Riverside, remains in Renown Hospital in Reno, Nev., where she was airlifted on Monday night.
The student prayer service included concerns for physical healing as well as easing the pain of memories for those who witnessed the horrific events as they unfolded.
Malaysia Alexander, a sophomore cross country team member who was riding in a recreational vehicle that followed the third van in the three-van caravan on Monday night, said she was still numb.
"I can't help but keep playing the scenes out over and over in my head," Alexander said. She was clutching two teammates' hands as she spoke.
Prayers also were offered for Coach Wendy Rice's family; for Rice's life of service to others; and for Natalie Nield and Amanda Post, the two former high school runners and recent graduates of Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, who were killed as occupants in the Ford SUV.
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