(Neb.)-CSC Football Recruit Dies In Traffic Mishap

By: Dennis and Kathi Brown Posted at: 08/01/2011 05:56 PM

A Chadron State College football recruit, Travis Calkin of Cody, Wyoming, died in a one-vehicle rollover about 50 miles from his hometown early Monday.

Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper Susan Wilson told the Cody Enterprise newspaper that the southbound 1989 GMC pickup driven by Calkin, 18, drifted off the highway at an unknown time.

The truck rolled three times and Calkin was ejected, struck by the vehicle and died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt, Wilson said.

State patrol officials said the accident was reported about 5:25 a.m. Monday. It happened near the intersection of Highway 120 and Highway 431 between Meeteetse and Thermopolis.

Calkin had graduated from Cody High School in May. He was a 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive lineman who earned all-conference and all-state honors and was a Casper Star-Tribune Super 25 selection. He had played in the Wyoming Shrine Bowl this summer.

(Courtesy Con Marshall)