Ann Wray, a sophomore agribusiness major at the University of Mount Olive, was in a Jeep with six classmates that was t-boned by a dump truck on a two-lane highway in town shortly before 1 a.m. Friday, the North Carolina Highway Patrol reported.
Wray and teammate Madison Mergl of Sayville, in Suffolk County, were killed, authorities said.
Five other occupants were airlifted to the Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, they said.
Four of them were teammates on the UMO women’s lacrosse team with Wray and Mergl. The fifth is a former baseball player who was visiting his girlfriend.
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UPDATE: Current and former members of the Mount Olive University women's lacrosse team are trying to help the families of two teammates -- one from Bergen County, the other from Long Island -- who were killed in a crash in North Carolina last week.
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Wray, who also played goalie for the Indian Hills HS soccer team, made second-team all-county in lacrosse her junior and senior years.
Mergl was a freshman exercise science major.
"It is a sad day for the University of Mount Olive,” said Interim UMO President Dr. Ed Croom. “We are in prayer for everyone involved in this horrific accident.
“We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the families of Ann Wray and Madison Mergl, and we uplift all of the others in our prayers as they continue to receive medical treatment,” Croom said.
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