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ROCK SPRINGS, Wyoming — A Utah State University student who worked as an assistant coach at Ridgeline High School died after a crash in southwest Wyoming last week.
Grace Montierth, 22, of Providence, Cache County, died in the crash, Wyoming Highway Patrol authorities confirmed.
Montierth was the passenger in a Subaru traveling west on I-80 near the unincorporated community of Point of Rocks, about 30 miles east of Rock Springs, when the vehicle began to hydroplane shortly after 4 p.m. on May 5, said Arron Healy, a public information officer for the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
“The Subaru continued to the right-hand shoulder of the eastbound lane, where it started to head back toward the westbound lane,” he said in a statement.
A semitruck traveling east on the freeway then collided with the Subaru as it started moving back into the westbound lane, causing the vehicle to spin and then stop in the eastbound median, Healy said. Both drivers — whose names and ages were not released — were taken to a nearby hospital with unspecified injuries, but Montierth was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
The crash remains under investigation, but Healy said the agency is reviewing fatigue or driver distraction as possible contributing factors. He said it had been raining, and the roads were wet at the time of the crash. He urges drivers to slow down and drive carefully during inclement weather.
Montierth was an assistant wrestling coach at Ridgeline High School, where she was previously a standout athlete, her family wrote in an obituary. She spent one season at Hastings College in Nebraska after high school, becoming an NAIA scholar All-American in 2022, and also qualifying for NAIA Nationals.
Her family wrote that she then served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Diego and Indianapolis before returning to Utah. After her mission, she transferred to Utah State University and became an assistant wrestling coach at Ridgeline. Her family said the university has awarded Montierth a bachelor’s degree posthumously, as she was close to completing her degree in kinesiology.
She was also described as a “light” in the lives of her family and friends.
“Grace was very service-oriented, reaching out to those in need or discouraged, lifting them up, even if it was difficult for her to do so, often putting others’ needs before her own,” her family wrote.
A funeral service for Montierth is planned for Saturday in Providence. A GoFundMe page* was set up to help the family cover funeral expenses and other costs, and it has collected over $25,000 since its creation.
*KSL.com does not assure that money deposited into the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
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