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College athlete from Oberlin killed in wreck
HOXIE, Kan. -- A 22-year-old Oberlin woman, champion power lifter and senior at Kansas State University was killed Monday evening in a head-on car accident 15 miles south of Hoxie, Kan., on Kansas Highway 23.
Services for Lora Elizabeth Marietta are pending with Paul's Funeral Home of Oberlin.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reports that Marietta was northbound at 6:25 p.m., Monday, when a southbound Kenworth semi-tractor-trailer rig crossed the center line to avoid a slower-moving vehicle in front of it. The truck struck Marietta's 2005 Chevy Cobalt head-on.
Marietta was pronounced dead at the scene, according to KAKE News, Kansas.
The driver of the truck, Manuel H. Ortega, 51, of Garden City, Kan., was taken to Sheridan County Hospital in Hoxie. His passenger, 27-year-old Jesus Manuel Ortega, also of Garden City, was not injured.
Marietta is the daughter of Alan and Judith Marietta of Oberlin.
Marietta graduated from Decatur Community High School in Oberlin in 2006, receiving the Col. Delbert L. Townsend Scholarship to attend Kansas State University in Manhattan.
Marietta was a senior studying psychology and pre-occupational therapy and was a member of K-State's Army ROTC Wildcat Battalion varsity team. In the Task Force Dodge Regional Ranger Challenge Dec. 10 at Camp Dodge, Iowa, Marietta earned the top female individual Army physical fitness test score of the competition. Marietta's score of 342, and the top male's score of 369 earned by fellow K-State competitor Christopher Robinett of Cedar Vale, Kan., were over the maximum physical fitness score of 300.
Lora Marietta and her sister, Leah, both competed in power lifting competitions. As a high school junior in 2004, Lora earned one silver and two bronze medals in the sub-junior (16-18 years old) division at the World Power lifting Championship in Pretoria, South Africa. As a sophomore at K-State in April 2007, Lora placed third overall at the USA Power lifting Collegiate National Championships in Killeen, Texas.