Memorial To Be Held For Cheerleading Coach Killed In Crash

BISHOP— Friends and colleagues are holding a private memorial service Friday for the Cal Baptist University cheer coach who was killed in a crash earlier this week.

Wendy Rice, 35, of Corona, and two others died when an out-of-control sport utility vehicle struck the van she was driving as the team headed to a high-altitude training camp in Bishop on Monday night, the Riverside school said.

Two people in the SUV also died.

Rice had been at the school for about four years and is survived by her husband and two children.

"She was remembered for being loving and very caring," university spokesman Mark Wyatt said. "And in fact, she was helping out with the cross-country team as a driver."

Three university vans were on northbound U.S. Highway 395 a few miles from Bishop when a southbound Ford SUV with five people inside drifted onto the shoulder. The SUV then veered back, overturned and rolled through the center divider, striking the van and bursting into flames, the CHP said.

A Subaru traveling behind the vans also hit the flaming SUV.

A deputy pulled a man from the burning vehicle and went back for a second person who was screaming for help. The deputy couldn't get back inside the SUV because of the flames and heat, according to a CHP report.

A third person who was burned and hurled from the SUV walked past the deputy then died on the pavement, the report said.

One student-athlete in the van and three people in the SUV were in extremely critical condition, Cleland said. The SUV patients had third-degree burns.

The woman driving the Subaru suffered third-degree burns to her arm, Cleland said.

At least three students had major injuries. Cleland identified them as Marissa Benson of Gresham, Ore.; Alicia Catamese of Corona; and Allissa Neimeyer of Temecula, who underwent surgery.