Soccer players Mills Sproull and James Campbell were among four USC Upstate students, all athletes, killed in a carcrash early Sunday morning in Boiling Springs, South Carolina.
Joshua Lee, who ran cross country at the Division I school, and Sarah Grace Vande Berg, a tennis player, also died. Felicia Ahlborg, another tennis player, was in serious but stable condition. They were in avehicle that ran off the side of the road, struck a tree and caught fire, according to reports.
Sproull was a junior who hailed from Birmingham, Alabama, where he was one of the topplayers to come out of the state in recent years.
“Mills has been an inspirational and valuable member of our program since his first day on campus,” USC Upstate head men’s coachGreg Hooks said. “He was a verygood player who battled through a tough injury for quite a while, but never lost his enthusiasm for the game or our team. He always had a smile on his face and brought a positive attitude to practiceevery day. I never heard him complain about his injury. He was an outstanding young man and he will be missed very much.”
Campbell, a junior, played at Marshall Universitybefore transferring to USC Upstate in January.
“James joined our team as a transfer and he added a lot to the program,”
TheSpartans’ men’s soccer team had been off this past week. A vigil was held at USC Upstate’s soccer field on Monday night. The tragedy has hit the community hard.
“There are nowords to describe this loss to the USC Upstate family and no way to comfort the grieving families who have lost their loved
ones,” said USC Upstate Chancellor TomMoore. “This tragedy will have tremendous impact on the Upstate community, individually and
collectively.”