Young people’s pain doesn’t hurt any more or less than adults’, but it can be vastly different.
What a mix of contrasting complexities of emotions it is, including the taken-for-granted outlook of invincibility when there’s a 1 as the first number of your age before realizing it’s not universally so or relevant.
It’s a cold, sobering feeling for carefree teenagers who ordinarily are on the cusp of adulthood. They are more concerned with the likes of peer acceptance, a plan for their future and enjoying their final glory days as a kid than having it suddenly interrupted by seeing peers suffer or getting struck down.
For Berthoud, the Monday night automobile accident within a mile of the school was another shock to a Colorado-proud area. Class 4A Spartans student-athletes Tyler Carron and Nikos Landeros, 17-year-olds, were hit from behind while attempting to change a tire, pinned between two vehicles and airlifted to Denver Health Medical Center. Each lost both legs. Carron, a senior wrestler and three-time state tournament qualifier, as of Wednesday, remained in serious condition; Landeros, a junior teammate, was in guarded status.
Irony was cruel. Another Berthoud student drove the second SUV in the accident and the boys were returning from a school dance postponed by last month’s snow. It occurred less than two years after another accident involving the area’s students, a double fatality.
“It’s stunning and so hard,” Thompson School District athletic director Gene Alvine said. “Your whole life changes in an instant.”
And forever.
The overall concern among the Spartans’ student body is immense, particularly within members of a tightly knit wrestling program. Their hearts are with the Carron and Landeros families. Their friends and followers are devastated. Together they’re pulling for two kids who, a few nights ago, were healthy – top wrestling condition heads most, if not all, athletic endurance requirements – but are fighting for survival, facing considerable rehabilitation and have lives changed in ways never seriously imagined.
As another in a series of events that have become part of ever-growing grim statistics, reality re-entered Colorado’s hallways, classrooms and playing fields for its high-schoolers. Instead of seeing Carron and Landeros at lunch or in the locker room or parking lot, Berthoud students and administrative personnel, at least for the time being, are relegated to mental and spiritual contact.
The questions have started; the answers won’t be easy to obtain.
How could this happen, and what did they do or didn’t do to deserve this?
In the minds of Berthoud students, the word why will never be defined, yet will always be there, not unlike in an ultimate test. Over and over again, it has only begun to be stated, asked, whispered, screamed, e-mailed and text- messaged indefinitely among them in a monotonous exchange of banter they hope will provide some form of soothing understanding – or at least a glimpse of a definitive response.
They probably won’t find it, but the search is all they have.
See how their frustration mounts, a mental drain that won’t unclog.
It’s confounding – young people who cried like babies or were numb upon hearing the bad news are being asked to grow up quickly and act strong, like adults.
These are innocent teenagers who haven’t asked for experience in dealing with horrific occurrences and are searching for the comfort and strength required to persevere.
Maybe we’re watching it develop – school was closed Tuesday and the Spartans’ wrestling team joined other sports and activities in canceling events for the week. But counseling remains available, classes have resumed, local families are as strong as they can be and the area’s resilience is resurfacing.
“We hate to have to go through this again,” Berthoud principal Leonard Sherman said, “but we’ll get through it.”
Young people’s pain may be different in that it’s an unwanted, new series of sad sensations that undoubtedly won’t be the last in their lives.
Perhaps their youth is what will allow them to do the best they can.
On tap
Denver Post staff writer Neil H. Devlin looks at the weekend ahead in high school sports:
BASKETBALL
CLASS 5A-3A BOYS: Leagues getting into the flow
Order … We have just about established order in the flow of league play statewide, and that’s with the expected fifth consecutive weekend involving snow. Today, East, before heading into the Denver Prep, will be at the Continental’s Heritage in 5A nonleague game. Meanwhile, the 3A Metropolitan will have three offerings key to the league lead – Holy Family at Kent Denver, Bishop Machebeuf at two-time defending state champion Denver Christian and Denver Lutheran at Faith Christian. Tipoffs are scheduled for 7 p.m. Ditto for first play Friday for two of the 5A Continental’s top players going head-to-
head: Arapahoe and University of Colorado-bound Levi Knutson at Gateway and junior O’Rion Hughes. On Saturday, 3A may have the best to watch with Eaton at Denver Christian, 7 p.m., in nonleague.
CLASS 5A-2A GIRLS: Springing into top-flight action
Head to Colorado Springs tonight at 7 p.m. for strong 4A league play, Harrison at Woodland Park and Fountain-Fort Carson at Sierra. On Friday, neighbors in Douglas County, Highlands Ranch at Chaparral, will contest at 7 p.m. in the 5A Continental, the suburban group that has produced the past seven big-school champions and a ton of Division I talent. Saturday’s Northern League matchup of Broomfield at Silver Creek, 7 p.m., also bears watching, as does an interesting afternoon gathering in 2A District 8, Kiowa (senior Amanda Bartlett) at Colorado Springs School, 3:30 p.m.
WRESTLING
CENTAURUS TOURNAMENT: A tip to the Top of the Rockies
It is turning serious. This weekend’s Top of the Rockies tournament, hosted by Centaurus in Lafayette, will be must-see viewing, even for passing fans who can wait for their next technical fall or superior decision. Beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and culminating with championship bouts at 6 p.m. Saturday, some of the finest talent in the state will also face significant others from the region, including wrestlers from New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Locally, 5A power Ponderosa, which has won the past four state titles, also is on a three-year roll as Top of the Rockies champion. This season’s Mustangs will be tested for another against multiple powers, including the likes of Alamosa (189-pounder Sonny Yohn, a senior seeking his third consecutive Colorado crown); Broomfield; Fort Lupton; Fort Morgan; Green River, Wyo.; Legacy; Northridge; and Rio Rancho, N.M.
ICE HOCKEY
CONFERENCE: On frozen pond
It has been cold enough to play outside, but they’ll take the shelter. Bishop Machebeuf against Ralston Valley, today at 4 p.m. at APEX, is one to watch in the Foothills, as is the Peak Conference’s Air Academy versus Pine Creek at the Air Force Academy. It’s at 5:30 p.m. This Saturday night could be all right, too, with Regis against Columbine at the Edge at 8 p.m.
Staff writer Neil H. Devlin can be reached at 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com.
