Ironwood tennis team involved in crash

IRONWOOD - Three members of the Ironwood Red Devils tennis team and a coach were involved in an accident with a logging truck; and while no serious injuries were reported, the four went to Aspirus Grand View as a precautionary measure.

At approximately 6:50 a.m., the Ironwood Public Safety Department and Beacon Ambulance were dispatched to the intersection of Cloverland Drive and Lake Street for a reported accident.

According to IPSD Lt. Michael Rimkus, the accident occurred when the westbound vehicle the team members were riding in attempted to turn south onto Lake Street. While the truck attempted to stop in time, it was unable to and struck the vehicle.

"It appeared the driver of the vehicle did not see the approaching truck (and) turned in front of him," Rimkus said. "Both had the green light, but the logging truck had the right-of-way because he was going straight and (the other vehicle) was turning left."

Ironwood Area Schools Superintendent Tim Kolesar said the tennis team was traveling to a tournament in Rhinelander, Wis., at the time of the accident.

"It's an unfortunate incident but we are very thankful that no-one was seriously injured," Kolesar said. "Let's just be thankful that what happened happened, and I don't want to think about what could have happened. Someone up above was watching over our students and coach."

Kolesar said the coach sustained a broken wrist in the accident, one of the students has a broken collar bone, another complained of "body aches" but tests were negative for internal trauma and the third student had a sore finger.

"When I got there and I saw that car, I saw the truck that hit it, I'm like, 'we're talking seconds and (it's a much bigger tragedy)," Kolesar said. "When I was telling our staff this morning, I almost cried - and I'm not a crier."

The driver of the logging truck was uninjured, Rimkus said.

There will be a review of district policies as a result of the accident, Kolesar said, and some changes were likely.

"All I can say is we were very lucky this morning and we're going to have to take some action to provide bus transportation for our self-funded sports," he said. "It is cheaper when these self-funded sports travel in private cars, but you know, it's only (a matter of) time (until something happens)."

Another potential change might be requiring the self-funded teams to meet at the Luther L. Wright K-12 School, rather than off-campus locations.

"It's much safer to leave from here," he said.

Kolesar praised the coach's dedication to the school's tennis program and it's team members, saying the crash was clearly an accident.

"(The coach) has been so good to our kids over the years, he's dedicated his time and effort," Kolesar said. "No one feels worse than probably him right now. (He) has been a total asset to our program for years."

The driver of the vehicle will be cited for failing to yield, according to Rimkus, and his name is being withheld until that time.

Rimkus said the logging truck's load did shift during the accident, causing a log to fall off the truck, but it wasn't the cause of the accident. The truck was sent to the nearby Keweenaw Land Association to be reloaded. The truck did sustain some front-end damage but nothing Rimkus said that made the truck undriveable.