www.tribstar.com
Travis
Smith, a former All-State golfer at Terre Haute South and a
freshman member of the Ball State University menâ??s golf team, was
killed in a two-vehicle accident Jan. 27 in Muncie.
He was 19.
Muncie
police told the Star Press newspaper that the accident, which appeared
to have been head-on, involved a two-door Toyota Camry Solara coupe and
a Chrysler Pacifica mid-sized sport utility vehicle on Riverside
Avenue, west of Reserve Street, at about 7 p.m.
The Star Pressâ??
story, which appeared on its Web site, said Smith was a passenger in
the car with two other Ball State students â?? Ethan Whaley of Fowler and
Todd Lamkin of Huntingburg. Both of them were injured but not
seriously, the Muncie newspaper reported.
Neither of those names appeared on the Ball State golf roster on the universityâ??s Web site.
Police
told the Star Press that alcohol appeared to be a factor in the crash,
although information on which driver may have been drinking was not
immediately available.
â??We are deeply saddened by the tragic
news of the death of Travis Smith,â? Ball State Athletics Director Tom
Collins said in an e-mail to the Tribune-Star late Saturday night. â??Our
thoughts and prayers are with his family and the members of our Ball
State golf program during this difficult time.â?
A 2006 South
graduate, Smith tied for fourth in the IHSAA boys golf state finals at
the Legends of Indiana Course in Franklin last June, leading the Braves
to a second-place finish.
The son of Jimmy and Tami Smith, he
also had a ninth-place finish in the 2004 state finals. He was a state
finalist four times in his high school career.
Smithâ??s golf coach at South was Chris Cassell.
â??There
will never be a high school golfer that good in Terre Haute,â? said a
stunned Cassell, who knew Smith as a friend more than as a golfer.
â??He
was in my wedding [in July 2005]. When I was in high school at South
[in the 1990s], I knew his parents and I remember taking him to Dairy
Queen when he was in second grade.
â??The main thing Iâ??ll remember
about him is how he treated everybody the same. He never let on that he
was a good golfer. He treated the last guy on the team the same way he
would have treated Tiger Woods.â?
Smith also played guard on the
boys basketball team during part of his time at South. On Jan. 26,
2005, he sank two free throws with 12 seconds remaining to give the
Braves a 37-36 lead that held up in a victory over Terre Haute North
inside Hulman Center.
At Ball State, Smith tied for 15th in his
first collegiate tournament last September. He majored in business and
accounting, according to the universityâ??s Web site, which said Smith
â??set every school record in golf at Terre Haute South.â?
Survivors include his parents and his sister, Courtney.
The Wednesday morning Mass of Christian Burial for
Smith has been moved to St. Benedict Church, 111 South 9th Street, in
downtown Terre Haute according to DeBaun Funeral Home. The Mass is
still scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. It was moved because St. Benedicit
Church has a larger seating capacity.
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