Three members of the University of Wyoming’s swimming and diving team died in a single-vehicle crash on U.S. 287 on Thursday, about 10 miles south of the Wyoming-Colorado border in northern Larimer County.
Two other members of the swim team were injured in the crash, according to a .
“We are heartsick at the news of this terrible tragedy for our university, our state, our student-athlete community and, most importantly, the families and friends of these young people,” University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel stated in the university’s Thursday release. “Words are insufficient to express our sadness.”
The University of Wyoming who died as Charlie Clark, 19, a sophomore psychology major from Las Vegas who was on the men’s team; Carson Muir, 18, a freshman animal and veterinary sciences major from Birmingham, Ala., who was on the women’s team; and Luke Slabber, 21, a junior studying construction management from Cape Town, South Africa, who was on the men’s team.
Keep Their Families, Friends and Teammates in Your Hearts |
— Wyoming Athletics (@wyoathletics)
Colorado State Patrol troopers and emergency medical services responded to the crash at 2:44 p.m. Thursday near Red Mountain Road on U.S. 287, between Livermore and Virginia Dale, said Master Trooper Gary Cutler.
The car carrying the five University of Wyoming students — a Toyota RAV4 — was traveling southbound when a vehicle ahead slowed, possibly to turn left onto Red Mountain Road, according to a Friday news release from the Colorado State Patrol.
The driver of the RAV4 then swerved left, drove off the left shoulder and rolled multiple times, throwing two students from the vehicle, according to the agency.
Five students were in the vehicle and three died at the scene, Cutler said.
“My thoughts and prayers are with our swimming and diving student-athletes, coaches, families and friends,” University of Wyoming’s Athletics Director Tom Burman stated in the university’s news release. “It is difficult to lose members of our University of Wyoming family, and we mourn the loss of these student-athletes. We have counseling services available to our student-athletes and coaches in our time of need.”
The other two students — a 20- and 21-year-old man — were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening and later released, according to a Friday update from the state patrol.
One of the students who survived the crash was the driver, according to the Friday news release. The surviving students have not been publicly identified.
The cause of the crash is unknown and no factors have been ruled out, including speed, impairment or other distractions, the the agency said Friday.
Officials do not believe that the group was traveling for an official school function at the time of the crash, according to the news release.
U.S. 287 was closed at Red Mountain Road for the crash investigation until approximately 6:30 p.m., according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.
In 2001, a head-on crash with a drunken driver on the same highway killed eight members of the University of Wyoming cross-country team. Clint Haskins, also a University of Wyoming student, swerved into the lane in front of the northbound sport-utility vehicle.
Haskins was the only survivor of that crash 15 miles south of Laramie. He pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and was paroled after 9 1/2 years in prison.
In 2021, three University of Wyoming students were killed when their car slid on icy pavement and was struck by an oncoming vehicle near the scene of Thursday’s wreck.
Portions of the road in Colorado have above-average crash rates, making the highway a good candidate for more safety improvements, according to a summary of a 2023 Colorado Department of Transportation report.
The same 30-mile section from north of Fort Collins to the Wyoming line where the crash occurred has had 570 crashes, including 15 fatal wrecks, in the past five years, according to the summary.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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