4 USU football players, former softball player injured in crash


15 photos
Save Story

Show 4 more videos

Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

TRENTON, Cache County — Five Utah State University athletes were hospitalized Friday after a collision on their way back from Newton Dam reservoir.

The five athletes were driving back to Logan when the crash occurred just before 2:30 p.m., the Utah Highway Patrol reported.

Witnesses said the Chevy Tahoe the athletes were in slowed at a stop sign at state Route 142 but did not stop before pulling onto state Route 23, driving into the path of a semitrailer.

The southbound truck, hauling 52,000 pounds of milk, attempted to swerve but struck the Tahoe on the driver's side, pushing it about 75 yards into a nearby yard, police reported.

Travis Seefeldt, 22, a senior nose guard for Utah State, was airlifted to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden. Seefeldt, from Peoria, Ariz., played in 14 games in 2014 and registered 35 tackles, 25 tackles for loss and two sacks.

Sarah Vasquez, 22, a former Aggie softball player, was also airlifted to McKay-Dee. Both were in critical condition. Seefeldt was driving the Tahoe, and Vasquez was a passenger in the front seat.

Edmund Faimalo, 21, Adewald Adeoye, 19, and John Taylor, 21, all current football players for Utah State, were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening injuries.

"I think all of the guys in Logan are stable, and Travis has a couple of (broken) ribs, but I think he's stable, too," Utah State coach Matt Wells told KSL's Rod Zundel in Ogden.

The 46-year-old man driving the semitrailer was not transported for care, nor was his 11-year-old son, who was riding as a passenger.

Wells said each student-athlete's family has been contacted, and they are all traveling to Logan from outside of Utah to be with their children.

"I'm the parent of three, and I couldn't imagine that phone call," Wells said. "But I think they've all handled it as well as it could be. They are all en route, so I'll see them shortly.

"It's hard. Literally, it's blood, sweat and tears. Those kids are my life. So we'll wrap our arms around them. There isn't a cliff note's version for dealing with this, but you wrap your arms, support them and love them. Our kids are tough. And there are kids all over both hospitals with them. They'll act like they always do, which is they are tremendous teammates."

Nobody in the Tahoe was wearing a seat belt, police said.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the student-athletes and their family members during this trying time and we are hopeful that all will make a speedy recovery," USU Interim Athletics Director Jana Doggett said in a statement.

Utah State issued a statement on behalf of the athletics department, confirming the students were involved in a crash in a released statement Friday.

"We will do everything we can to help all the student-athletes involved in today's car accident and will give them all the love and support they need," Wells said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved."

Contributing: McKenzie Romero, Sean Walker, Rod Zundel and Alex Cabrero

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahSportsUtah State Aggies
Ben Lockhart

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast