USA Cycling ITT winner Amber Neben on winning and cycling in East Tennessee
USA Cycling ITT winner Amber Neben on victory in East Tennesse.
Knoxville News Sentinel
- Two Milligan University cycling team members were killed during a training ride in Hampton, Tennessee.
- Seven other student cyclists were injured in the crash, with four in critical condition.
- A 69-year-old man was charged with vehicular homicide by recklessness and aggravated assault.
- The incident occurred when a vehicle struck the group of 11 cyclists on Highway 19E.
Two members of a college cycling team were killed and seven were injured, including four critically, when they were struck by a vehicle while training in Tennessee on Aug. 19.
The crash happened around 8 a.m. on Highway 19E in Hampton, Tennessee, just east of Johnson City, when 11 members of the Milligan University cycling team were on a training ride, officials said. College sophomores Haylan Engdahl and Brayden Rogers were killed in the accident, officials said.
Seven other students were injured and taken to Johnson City Medical Center, Milligan University president Stephen Waers said at a press conference with local officials. Officials said four were in critical condition, two others were stable and one had been released, according to reporting by the Knoxville News Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.
“I’d like to invite you into prayer with us and into grief with us — into prayer for the families of those we have lost, into prayer for those who are still receiving treatment,” Waers said in a video statement.
John Benfield, 69, of North Carolina, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide by recklessness and five counts of aggravated assault by vehicle, said Steve Finney, the district attorney general for Carter County. Officials said that an investigation into the incident is ongoing and Benfield was in custody.
Milligan University is a private Christian university in Elizabethton, Tennessee, about 11 miles from the scene of the crash. The university has over 1,200 students.
Milligan’s cycling team won the men’s team time trial national championship at the U.S.A. Cycling Collegiate Road Nationals in Madison, Wisconsin, in May.
Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: emmett.siegel@knoxnews.com; X: @EmmettSiegel_