An SUV heading back from a school track meet went airborne on a highway near St. Cloud and crashed into a tree, killing a 13-year-old runner and seriously injuring her teammate and the surviving girl's father, authorities said.
The crash occurred about 7:25 p.m. Monday on southbound Hwy. 10 about 10 miles north of St. Cloud, according to the State Patrol.
Killed was Ellie C. Sovada, 13, of St. Cloud, the patrol said. Seriously injured and taken to St. Cloud Hospital were driver Philip Boyle, 59, of St. Cloud, and his daughter, Sofia Boyle, 12. All three were wearing their seat belts.
The girls, seventh-graders at St. Cloud Cathedral, were returning from a middle school track meet in Little Falls, Cathedral President Mike Mullin said.
Ellie was "the apple of Mom and Dad's eye," Mullin said, a straight-A student and Nordic skier for the school who was able to "bring joy and delight to everyone's lives."
Paul Walsh
