Born on Sept. 11, 1996, Bayfield High School graduate Haley Clarke lost her life the day before this nation celebrated 240 years of independence.
"It literally took my breath away when I heard," Clarke's senior-year varsity basketball coach, Briana Simbeck, said Wednesday morning. "I didn't know what to say; I'd just seen her, like, a week ago. And Caitlin (Simbeck's younger sister) is a head coach now - a high-school volleyball coach - and I was telling her about Haley! It was like, 'I was just bragging about her!'"
Clarke graduated from Bayfield High School in 2014 and was studying at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. "I think the thing that struck me about Haley when we were having the coach-player relationship, was that when you earned Haley's respect she'd give everything that she had," Ronnie Posey, Simbeck's predecessor at BHS, said Tuesday.
Enjoying a summertime adrenaline rush away from studies at UNC, the 19-year-old (who would have turned 20 on Sept. 11) drowned Sunday, July 3, in Cascade Creek. The popular recreational jumping site has waterfalls north of Durango, extending into San Juan County.
"That was totally the type of person she was," said Simbeck, who now also lives in Greeley.
"She was constantly enjoying all the beauty and adventure that Colorado has to offer - just living life to the fullest. And it's definitely something that I, even being older than her, admired in her and would like to emulate in my life."
A fellow teammate and 2014 graduate, Jaida Ross, recalled her friend from Lakewood, where she now lives.
"It was always just 'me and her,' in the same grade and on the same team," Ross said. "We were always so close ... always together. She was always super-sweet and supportive. She was a good friend. Honestly I'm just in shock. I still don't know the whole story or anything."
From everything reported to date, it would seem a case of a great day suddenly gone unthinkably wrong.
The San Juan County Sheriff's Department reported the fatality on July 3 on its Facebook page. Clarke was named as the victim in a July 4 update. "With the assistance of La Plata Search & Resuce [sic] and the Durango Resue [sic] Authority," read the second post, "Haley was removed from the canyon, along with ... two stranded falls jumpers."
Ron Corkish, La Plata Search & Rescue president, confirmed the unnamed pair's rescue. "Our thoughts are with the Clarke family, and our gratitude with our rescuers," the sheriff wrote on the Facebook page.
In a chilling irony, Haley's departure came after father Simon unexpectedly died at the age of 61 on May 28. That leaves Clarke's mother Tica, sister Denvir and brother Ben to immediately survive both.
"I had Ben ... in class," said Simbeck, who taught mathematics at Bayfield, "and my heart is hurting for the family and what they've had to go through these last couple months - with the loss of their father, and now losing a sister. My heart is heavy, knowing that ... we won't get to see that beautiful smile of hers."
Remembered Posey: "She worked incredibly hard, and supported our effort on and off the court for sure. The relationship that she and I had ... endured well beyond basketball. And I think that speaks to the fact she understood the value of a character of a person." While Ross remembered how aggressive her friend was in the school and on the court, "in the classroom and on the field she had a sense of humor. No matter what, she always had a smile on her face."
"I'm really going to miss her," Ross said, "And I love her."
A celebration of life has been set for 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Serious Texas Bar-B-Q in Durango at 650 South Camino del Rio, near the Durango Mall. A Facebook page regarding the ceremony has been set up so organizers can estimate how many will attend and how much food will be needed. Friends have set up an account for the Clarke family at www.gofundme.com/clarkefamilyrelief
