Bulletin E-Edition:
Emergency crews clean up following the three-car accident Friday south of Redmond on U.S. Highway 97 that killed 16-year-old Mountain View High School student Shalae Mortenson.
Melissa Jansson
The Bulletin
Mountain View High cheerleader dies in crash
Fellow cheerleaders were expecting her at classmate’s memorial
By Scott Hammers / The Bulletin
Published: January 03. 2009 4:00AM PSTA 16-year-old Mountain View High School student was killed in a traffic accident Friday morning when her northbound pickup truck spun across the center line of U.S. Highway 97 south of Redmond near Southwest Quarry Avenue and into the path of a truck traveling in the opposite direction.
Shalae Rae Mortenson was a junior at the school, an up-and-coming cheerleader, and, according to some who knew her, one of the most thoughtful and upbeat students at Mountain View.
Lynne Mullen, the Mountain View cheerleading coach, said Mortenson was planning to attend Friday’s memorial service for Sarah Mace, a classmate who died of leukemia on Christmas. Mullen was in California on Friday morning when she started receiving phone calls from girls on the cheerleading squad who were worried that Mortenson hadn’t arrived at the memorial.
Mullen said Mortenson had made great strides since joining the cheerleading squad at the beginning of the school year and hoped to be the captain of the squad next year.
“She was a role model for the people around her, just the way she lived her life,” Mullen said. “She had a boyfriend she cared about deeply, her cheerleaders were her sisters, and she was just excited about life, living every day to the fullest.”
Mortenson, of Redmond, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Oregon State Police said. The driver of the second truck, Jose Alex Mendoza, 33, of Terrebonne, was seriously injured and taken by AirLink helicopter to St. Charles Bend.
A third truck struck Mendoza’s truck, but its driver was uninjured. All lanes of the highway were closed for about two hours following the collision.
OSP Lt. Gregg Hastings said icy conditions were a contributing factor in the 7:30 a.m. crash.
Katie Legace, the principal at Mountain View, talked to members of Mortenson’s family Friday afternoon. Legace said they were “pretty shook up,” but shared stories about Mortenson’s close relationship with her father, and how the two of them spent many days playing outdoors, fishing, boating and riding four-wheelers. Mortenson’s grandfather called her a “shining light in our family,” Legace said.
“The thing that really stands out for me with Shalae is she’s an incredibly positive person, she always had a smile on her face, really warm and friendly with everyone she met,” Legace said. “She would come up to me at games and just chit-chat, I really enjoyed being around her a lot. It’s a huge loss to the Mountain View community.”
Mullen recalled Mortenson coming to her in a panic two weeks ago, on the last day of school before winter break. The cheerleading squad was preparing to do a routine in front of the whole school, and Mortenson had lost her nerve. She was concerned she’d make a mistake and embarrass the other girls, Mullen said.
After a few reassuring words, Mullen sent Mortenson and the rest of the cheerleaders out on the floor. The performance went well, Mullen said, and at the end, Mortenson was full of energy.
“She came running up to me and gave me a big hug and said, ‘I’m so glad you made me do that; I would have missed out for the rest of my life if I hadn’t done that, and now I want to do it again.’” Mullen said. “It was like now there’s nothing that can stop me, she stepped over that line and now, ‘I’m going to do this every single time, whatever you need me to do.’”
Mullen said she’ll be returning from California today to help comfort other members of her cheerleading squad. She expects some difficult days ahead when school starts up again Monday but is hopeful the cheerleaders and other students remember Mortenson’s positivity as they begin to heal.
“She was a great kid, full of ethics, very grounded in her religion and one of those kind of gals that wants to make everybody happy,” Mullen said. “If anybody needed a ride she was there; if anybody needed anything, she was there.”
Scott Hammers can be reached at 541-383-0387 or at shammers@bendbulletin.com.
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