PORT ANGELES — The sudden death of Port Angeles High School junior Nick Wright on Wednesday afternoon was wrenching for students, school staff, coaches and teammates who remember him as a happy, healthy teenager who ran several miles a day.
“Our kids liked him, and they are very much in shock,” said school counselor Cecilia Jacobs, who spent much of Thursday talking to students about his death.
Mr. Wright, 17, died shortly after collapsing while jogging in his neighborhood as he trained for the upcoming cross country and lacrosse seasons.
The student athlete was running with a friend on Milwaukee Drive when he collapsed; he could not be revived at Olympic Medical Center.
An autopsy was conducted Thursday afternoon, but results weren’t immediately available.
Those close to Mr. Wright remembered him in several ways Thursday.
Students send condolences
By the afternoon, students already began writing condolence letters to his family, and messages to Mr. Wright on a banner in the cafeteria.
A teammate of his on the Olympic Mountaineer lacrosse team also has ordered shirts in his memory that will be worn during warm-ups, said coach Dave Farrington.
Farrington said that the team will dedicate the upcoming season to Mr. Wright, wear memorial patches on their jerseys, and hang his jersey on the sidelines for the next two years.
“This is by far the saddest day of my coaching career,” said Farrington, who described Mr. Wright as an outgoing person and dedicated player who easily won the admiration of fellow Lacrosse players, the coaches and referees.
“The kid always had a smile on his face,” he said. “I don’t think he had a harsh word to say.”
Jacobs described Mr. Wright as having a “ready smile” and being “well plugged in” to the school.
Jeffrey Clark, associate principal and athletic coordinator, said Mr. Wright played for the school’s cross country team last year and lacrosse team as a freshman and sophomore.
Clark said he didn’t know Mr. Wright personally, but added, “Things like this . . . they deeply affect the school.”
Funding for the high school Lacrosse team was cancelled last year and the Olympic Mountaineers was started to take its place. The upcoming season in March would be the club’s first.
Farrington, who knew Mr. Wright since he was about five years old, said there was no indication that he had any health problems. Farrington and Mr. Wright’s father, Victor Wright, are both friends, he said.
Victor Wright is a Olympic Mountaineers board member who helped build the program, Farrington said.
Eager to help his son stay in the sport he loved, Victor Wright was the “first to jump on board,” he said.
Mr. Wright’s cross country coach could not be immediately reached for comment.
On the banner in the cafeteria, several of his friends and teammates had already left messages before noon Thursday.
‘Awesome guy’
“You were an awesome guy and a really great teammate. We are going to miss you tons on the field this year and we’re all going to try really hard to win our games for you,” wrote one student.
“I hope you’ll be watching.”
Mr. Wright’s grief-stricken father declined to be interviewed for this story but e-mailed a draft obituary that said his son was, “A bright and generous soul, he loved to help.”
He was born on Nov. 20, 1992; his mother is Usanus Wright, the e-mail said.
Farrington said Mr. Wright had two younger sisters, Maggy and Irene.
Two of his neighbors, Jim and Maria Paul, said they had fond memories of him.
“I have nothing but good to say about the child,” Maria Paul said.
“He and his family were very nice . . . It came as a total shock to me.”
Said Jim Paul: “I’ve lived in this house for 10 years, and he was the first person I met when we bought the house.
“I watched him grow up.”
Funeral arrangements were pending Thursday.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
