Teens were ‘two tremendous leaders’

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 4, 2004

By Jennifer Rogers and Jim Lutgens, Tribune staff writers

Bryan Kormann, 19, of New Richland, and Stephanie Hanna, 16, of Geneva, were killed Monday night in a car accident near Medford.

Kormann and Hanna, both wearing seat belts, were driving southbound on I-35, just north of Owatonna, when they attempted to pass a semi-tractor trailer driven by Cory Carswell, 30, of Addison, Texas. The right rear of Kormann’s Pontiac Sunfire hit the left front of the semi-tractor trailer, went through the median and was struck by a Chevy Astro van driving northbound on I-35.

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Kormann was airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital by Mayo One and was pronounced dead at 9:52 p.m., Monday. Hanna was pronounced dead at the scene.

Carswell, driver of the semi-tractor trailer and also seatbelted, was not injured. David German, 39, of Kilkenny, driver of the van and seatbelted, was transported to Owatonna Hospital by Gold Cross.

The accident is under investigation by the Minnesota State Patrol.

Kormann was a recent graduate of New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva High School and Hanna would have been a senior this year. Both were very active in athletics.

Kormann was honorable mention on the Tribune’s All-Area Football Team last fall while Hanna was named to the All-Area Girls’ Basketball Team after the Panthers’ fourth-place finish in the state tournament in March.

NRHEG head track coach and assistant football coach Duey Ferber &045; who coached both Kormann and Hanna &045; said the school district and communities were shocked and grief-stricken at the loss.

&uot;They were two of the nicest kids you’re ever going to meet,&uot; said Ferber. &uot;We lost two tremendous leaders, two great role models. I just can’t believe it.&uot;

Funeral arrangements are pending.