LIVERMORE, Colo. — Three members of the University of Wyoming swimming and diving team were killed in a crash near Livermore Thursday afternoon.
The crash happened around 2:44 p.m. on Highway 287 near Red Mountain Road in Larimer County, roughly 10 miles south of the Wyoming-Colorado border.
According to the Colorado State Patrol, a Toyota RAV4 was traveling southbound when it drove off the left shoulder and rolled multiple times.
CSP said five people were in the car at the time of the crash, and two were ejected. The University of Wyoming identified the five as members of its swimming and diving team.
Three people were killed in the crash — 18-year-old Carson Muir, a freshman on the women's team and an animal and veterinary sciences major from Birmingham, Ala.; 19-year-old Charlie Clark, a sophomore on the men's team and a psychology major from Las Vegas, Nev.; and 21-year-old Luke Slabber, a junior on the men's team studying construction management from Cape Town, South Africa.
The driver, a 21-year-old man, and another occupant, a 20-year-old man, were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. They were both released on Friday.
"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," UW President Ed Seidel said in a statement. "Words are insufficient to express our sadness."
"My thoughts and prayers are with our swimming and diving student-athletes, coaches, families and friends," UW Director of Athletics Tom Burman said in prepared remarks. "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."
CSP is investigating the crash. Investigators do not believe that the group was traveling for an official school function at the time of the crash.
The investigation is in its "early stages" and the cause and other possible factors remain under investigation, according to the CSP.
UW students in need of support can contact the University Counseling Center at 307-766-2187. The center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students can also call an after-hours crisis counselor at 307-766-8989.
