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Baptist University Mourns Loss
of Three Athletes Killed in Crash

Baptist Press
By Staff

Basketball players Gregory Germany, 22, of Rogersville, Mo.,
and Mary Miller, 20, of Niangua, Mo., were pronounced dead
at the scene. Bryon Phillips, 27, husband of SBU volleyball
player Leslie Phillips, was pronounced dead after being taken
to a hospital.

Tyler Wasmer, 20, of Independence, Mo., was listed in serious
condition Sunday. Wasmer is a member of the SBU football
team. Women's basketball player Jamie Roszell, 19, of Neosho,
Mo., underwent surgery and was listed in serious condition
Sunday. Both remained in Springfield hospitals Monday.

On their way back to Bolivar from Springfield, the group was
traveling in a Jeep Cherokee driven by Wasmer. About 2 a.m.,
the vehicle ran off the road and struck a tree, catching on fire.

Students living in SBU dormitories were awakened at 6 a.m.
Sunday, gathering to hear the about the tragedy and mourn
together.

"It's tough," SBU men's basketball coach Darin Archer told the
Springfield News-Leader. "I've got a son that's 5, and if he grows
up to be like Greg Germany, I'm going to be a very proud parent."

Women's basketball coach Jim Middleton told the newspaper
his squad met twice on Sunday "trying to make sense of something
we can't understand."

"It just hits the SBU family, and anytime you lose anyone in the
family," Middleton said, "it's tragic."

A highway patrol investigation of the crash is underway. Greene
County medical examiner James Spindler said toxicology samples
were taken from all five students, although results were not yet
available.

"It appears that there's a possibility that alcohol was involved,"
Spindler said on Dec. 3.

However, officials could not say on Monday where the students
had been before the accident, only that they had been in Springfield.

Car accidents have claimed the lives of five SBU students this
year. Jay Wetzel, 19, and Sara McGaha, 18, died in a multi-car pileup
on Jan. 23.

Although the campus is hurting right now, Middleton said the student community is cushioned by its religious beliefs.

"We do have a faith that we believe in and we're using that right now and relying on that," he said. "It's helping us tremendously."

(BP) photos posted in the BP Photo Library at www.bpnews.net.
Photo title: JAMIE ROSZELL, GREGORY GERMANY, MARY MILLER
and TYLER WASMER.

Original Source (no longer available at this link):       http://baptistpress.org/CurrentBaptistPress/story6.html