A regional gymnastics meet at Columbus East High School was postponed after the New Castle gymnastics team bus was involved in a head-on collision on its way to the competition while the bus was traveling on State Road 46 east of Columbus.
Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputies said no New Castle gymnasts were hurt. All of the female gymnasts were checked at the scene by Columbus Regional Health Emergency Medical Services and released. There were eight New Castle gymnasts and four coaches on the bus when the accident happened.
Deputies said the accident happened at 9:19 a.m. Saturday in the 17000 block of State Road 46 East, with the bus colliding head-on with a Ford SUV.
An New Castle assistant coach identified as the bus driver was taken to Columbus Regional Hospital with a broken rib and treated and released, New Castle Athletic Director Shane Osting said. The sheriff’s department identified her as Marta Davis, 65, New Castle.
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Deputies identified the driver who was trapped in the SUV as Marc Dougherty, 39, Columbus. He suffered a broken left leg and broken left arm, according to deputies. After being extricated from the SUV, he was airlifted to IU Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis by Lifeline helicopter, deputies said. Hartsville and Columbus firefighters assisted at the scene with the extrication.
An investigation continues into the accident, with accident reconstructionists from the sheriff department and Indiana State Police sent to the scene.
New Castle was traveling to Columbus East for the regional gymnastics meet, scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday. The meet, where gymnasts would qualify for state competition, has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at Columbus East.
“The biggest thing is, it’s just a traumatic experience,” East athletics director Pete Huse said. “Emotionally, we did not want to put New Castle in a position where they had to compete when it could be postponed to Monday. Nothing is an easy decision. You’re trying to determine what’s best for everyone, especially for New Castle. Monday quickly became one of the best options, and it’s something we were able to do.”
Huse said he learned of the accident around 9:45 a.m. It was around that time that the other five teams — East, Columbus North, Bloomington North, New Palestine and Richmond — began arriving to go through warmups for the meet. But with the status in limbo, teams and coaches sat in the stands until the decision to postpone was made at around noon.
“Just when the teams arrived, we said, ‘Here’s the situation,’ and we had everyone sit in the gym,” Huse said. “All the schools were very understanding and cooperative. Everyone was very patient with it and wanted to do what was best for New Castle and for the tournament.”
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The regional gymnastics meet at Columbus East High School has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. Monday.
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