Santa Clarita youth hockey team wins championship days after deadly Colorado crash
By Dean Fioresi
Click here for updates on this story
SANTA CLARITA, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Just days after they were involved in a multi-vehicle crash on I-70 in Colorado, which left one father dead and several players injured, a youth hockey team from Santa Clarita took home the league title on Sunday.
The tournament was hosted at Edge Ice Arena in Littleton, Colorado, taking place over the weekend to determine the champion of the Western Girls Hockey League.
The Santa Clarita Lady Flyers opted to continue playing in the tournament despite the tragedy, and thanks in large part to the support of other teams, emerged triumphant on Sunday afternoon.
“It wasn’t just about a championship,” said Todd Stelnick, the team’s coach and a father of one of the Lady Flyers. “It was about being with your teammates, being with your family on the ice, sticking together win or lose. They knew they were fighting for each other.”
The girls fought through six games in the three days following the crash after deciding on their own to remain in the tournament, Stelnick said.
“Sprouting out so much tears, us coaches were in tears,” Stelnick said. “It was just fantastic to watch. It was just a great story to tell that they ended with a championship, and I told the girls before the locker room, ‘Girls, I’m just happy to be here with you and it’s your story to tell how this finishes.'”
Hannah Westbrook, the director of hockey operations for the Colorado 14ers club, which also plays in the WGHL, confirmed that most of the Lady Flyers team was flying out of Colorado a few hours after the game, while some were expected to depart on Monday.
The crash happened early Thursday morning as several families and members of the Santa Clarita Lady Flyers 12-and-under team were traveling to the Western Girls Hockey League tournament. They were about 50 miles from Denver near the Eisenhower Tunnel on I-70 in Clear Creek County when the crash occurred, Colorado State Patrol officers said.
Ten people were inside the Sprinter van transporting some of the team and their families when they were struck by a Colorado Department of Transportation snowplow that lost control at approximately 7:50 a.m. Two other passenger vehicles were also involved in the crash, which forced the van down an embankment.
The driver of the van, identified as Manny Lorenzana, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said. Eight others were hospitalized in the collision: three adults and five juveniles, one of whom was airlifted to a trauma center in critical condition.
Other families with the Lady Flyers said that three of the players were hospitalized after the crash and that they were all in attendance at the championship game. One of the players’ mothers remained hospitalized as of Sunday evening, but everyone else had been released.
Stelnick said that the league has planned a championship celebration party for the Lady Flyers, as well as a remembrance for Lorenzana, later this week. Loved ones have created an online fundraiser to help the victim’s family cover funeral expenses. It can be found by searching for the keywords: “In loving memory of Manny Lorenzana.”
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.