UPDATE AS OF 11:00 A.M. (8/12/10)

RIVERSIDE --- A private campus memorial service in honor of Wendy Rice, the California Baptist University cheer coach killed in a traffic collision earlier this week, is planned for members of the California Baptist University community on Friday afternoon, August 13.

The service, to be held in the Van Dyne Gym at CBU, is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. with remarks by Dr. Ronald L. Ellis, president of California Baptist University.



UPDATE AS OF 3:55 P.M. (8/11/10)

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.



UPDATE AS OF 11 A.M. (8/11/10)

RIVERSIDE --- Student athletes from California Baptist University's cross country team returned to campus on Tuesday night following an accident that claimed the life of cheer coach Wendy Rice and injured a dozen team members. Family and friends were gathered at the school's gym to greet the students as they returned shortly before 11 p.m. Some of the students who gathered with their families for the first time since the accident exhibited scratches, abrasions and limps as they stepped from the vans.

The returning cross country team members included six of the 12 student-athletes in the van that was hit by an out-of-control Ford SUV.  Five students remain hospitalized in various locations in moderate to serious condition throughout Tuesday. A sixth student, Brenda Perez, was discharged from a hospital after one day, according to Micah McDaniel, CBU's sports information director.

The head-on collision occurred on Highway 395 near Bishop. The students were traveling to a high-altitude pre-season training camp in Mammoth Lakes. The SUV that hit the CBU van was carrying runners from other schools. Two students in that vehicle who were killed have been identified as Natalie Nield and Amanda Post. The students had recently graduated from Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego.

Both schools are still reeling from the shock of the tragic accident. Several of CBU's returning athletes on Tuesday night described the event to reporters from Los Angeles television stations lined up outside the Van Dyne Gym.

Kent Dacus, CBU Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services, spoke to the more than 100 people on hand for the bittersweet reunion. The group prayed together and grief counselors from the university's Counseling Center and Office of Spiritual Life were on hand to help students and their families deal with the aftermath of the traumatic events.

Plans are being developed for a memorial service for the CBU campus community, but no details currently are available.



UPDATE AS OF 3:30 P.M. (8/10/10)

RIVERSIDE -- Six student athletes from California Baptist University remained hospitalized Tuesday in four cities in the aftermath of a multiple fatality accident that injured 12 students and claimed the life of CBU Cheerleading Coach Wendy Rice and two others August 9. 

Rice was driving one of three vans transporting the CBU cross country team to Mammoth, Calif., for a week-long high altitude training camp.  The van that Rice was driving was struck head-on by an out of control SUV that burst into flames following the impact.  According to the California Highway Patrol, two persons in the SUV were killed in the crash and several others were injured.

None of the student-athletes or coaches in the other two vans was injured, and they eventually proceeded to Mammoth for the night.

On Tuesday a group of athletics administrators from CBU traveled to Mammoth to accompany the uninjured student-athletes back to Riverside for an expected late night arrival. Six student-athletes who were treated for injuries after the crash also were expected to return to the University Tuesday evening.

University officials on Tuesday identified the six students who remain hospitalized in stable condition. They are: Miguel Gonzales and Brenda Perez, at Northern Inyo Hospital in Bishop, Calif.; Alicia Catanese and Alyssa Neimeyer at Mammoth Hospital in Mammoth, Calif.;  Rebecca Trupp at Renown Hospital in Reno, Nev.; and  Marisa Benson at Kaiser-Riverside.

ORIGINAL RELEASE --- 8:45 A.M. (8/10/10)

RIVERSIDE -- The cheerleading coach of California Baptist University was killed and a dozen cross country team members were injured August 9 in a three-vehicle multiple-fatality accident on California Highway 395 near Bishop, CA.
Cheerleading Head Coach Wendy Rice was driving one of three vans carrying CBU student athletes to a high altitude training camp in Mammoth. She died when the van was struck by an oncoming SUV that apparently ran out of control, overturned and burst into flames on impact.

California Highway Patrol Officer Dennis Cleland said two people in the SUV also were killed, but no one in the other two CBU vans was injured.

Officer Cleland said the collision occurred about five miles south of Bishop at 8:20 p.m. on a divided four-lane stretch of highway. He said 12 CBU student athletes in the van were injured and transported to area hospitals, but the extent of their injuries was unknown.

University officials contacted the families of all of the cross country team members to inform them about the accident.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic event," said University President Dr. Ronald L. Ellis.  "We have lost a beloved member of our CBU family. On behalf of the university community, I want to express our deepest sympathy to Wendy's husband and their two young children.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost loved ones in this terrible accident and with those who were injured," Ellis said. "We pray for their speedy and complete recovery."

Officials said a memorial service for the CBU community will be scheduled on the Riverside campus.