Photo pulled from September 18th, 2001 issue of Branding Iron
On September 16th, 2001, the community of the University of Wyoming was struck with tragedy right after the 9/11 attacks a few days prior. Eight cross-country student athletes, on a trip back from Fort Collins, died in a head-on crash with a drunk driver on Highway 287.
The impacts of the accident are still felt all around the state of Wyoming to this day, with six of the eight athletes growing up in the Cowboy State. The accident left only four athletes left on the team, and the Cowboys were left unable to compete, needing five members to participate in meets.
The impaired driver, also a UW student, driving a dual-wheel pickup, swerved into the northbound lane and struck the Jeep Wagoneer holding the cross-country runners at around 1:30 in the morning. Seven of the eight students were ejected from the vehicle, all eight passed away at the crash site. The impaired driver, after being nursed back to health at Ivinson Hospital, served ten years in prison for his offenses.
To this day, the memory of the eight students serves as a reminder of the dangers of impaired driving for students at the University of Wyoming. Because of the timing of the incident, immediately following 9/11, the incident was greatly overshadowed in national news, but around the Cowboy State, memorials are still held to this day.
Statewide Commemorations
With six of the students calling five different towns in Wyoming home, the impact shook the state for quite some time. “We are all a family, a close family of Cowboys. Now we have lost eight brothers,” recalls the Branding Iron September 18th, 2001, edition. However, the memory of this tragic accident sprouted a lot of good around the tight-knit communities of our state.
Gillette, home of victim Morgan McCleland, hosts an eight-mile run each year on the anniversary to raise awareness for impaired driving. Cheyenne, home of victim Kevin Salverson, hosts the Kevin Salverson Memorial Track Meet in January of each year to remember the loss of a Cheyenne track-and-field legend.
Here at UW, the university makes sure the memory and reminder of this tragedy does not go forgotten either. Just south of the War Memorial fieldhouse, a boulder engraved with “Come Run with Me” is placed and surrounded by a garden memorializing the athletes. Fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon also holds a memorial ritual in honor of their lost brother and UW runner Shane Shatto.
Dangerous Road to this Day
Highway 287, the road where the crash took place, is notoriously associated with the incident among UW students. More recently, in February 2024, feelings towards the road were reinforced when three Cowboy and Cowgirl swimmers passed away in a single-vehicle rollover accident on 287.
The highway has claimed 15 lives over the past 11 years, commonly affecting UW students. The road travels from Laramie to Fort Collins, 40 miles of windy, high-speed roads, often with poor conditions in the winter. Students will often take the 15 minutes longer route through Cheyenne to avoid driving on it, and for good reason.
Students are not quick to forget the memory of Cody Brown, Joshua Jones, Justin Lambert-Belanger, Shane Shatto, Morgan McCleland, Nick Schabron, Kevin Salverson, and Kyle Johnson. The accident acts as a reminder for all students to be careful on Highway 287, and certainly to not drive when impaired.
