Wednesday, Aug. 19, was supposed to be a normal training ride for Milligan’s cycling team. As
usual, the team met at McMahan Student Center and then split off into three groups based on
speed and specialty. Around 8 a.m., a vehicle hit nine members of the team on Highway 19 in
Hampton, Tenn. This accident killed sophomores Haylan Engdahl and Brayden Rogers. Seven
others received treatment at Johnson City Medical Center and have since been released.
Among the riders in the accident were seniors Kaya Schröder and Sam Calvert. Neither
remembers the crash.
“I felt really safe because I had our guys next to me. I was not really thinking about anything at
that moment,” Schröder said. “It was just really humid in the morning. I don’t remember
anything about the event at all. I think I’m very grateful for that, but I don’t like not knowing and
figuring out later that most likely one of the two was next to me. That was really hard for me to
hear and to think that that could have been me if I had been on the other side.”
Eleven riders initially began the ride, but senior Matthew Amara and sophomore Drew Howard
split from the group. When teammates contacted them about the crash, they struggled to believe
what had happened.
“Initially we were like, ‘There is no shot; we just came from them,’” Amara said. “We were even
doing the math on the side of the road.”
The driver, John Alexander Benfield, 69, of Newland, North Carolina, is charged with two
counts of reckless vehicular homicide and five counts of reckless aggravated assault by vehicle,
according to District Attorney Steve Finney.
For Schröder, the crash also changed her perception of safety on the road. Despite feeling
completely safe moments before, she realized how quickly that sense of security could disappear.
“My problem is that it happened so instantly, and it happened without any warning,” Schröder
said. “I am mad at the guy for driving; I’m mad at him. But I’m more mad at the structures of
how people are still allowed to drive without limits on their current situation.”
The crash made Schröder question whether cyclists can ever truly feel safe on the road.
“It is feeling safe. Thinking everything is good, especially in the group. I could not have felt any
safer, like literally not any safer. Eleven people is better than five people, which is better than
two. I think it was just us in the wrong spot at the wrong moment, but at the same time there is
that chance, always, and that makes cycling so scary,” Schröder said.
Since the accident, Amara has noticed drivers giving him more space, especially when he wears
his Milligan cycling jersey.
“Right now if I go ride in a regular jersey, I get the regular buzzing by or whatever, but
whenever I wear a Milligan jersey, all the cars are going to wave you past, they are going to wait
behind you, and they give you so much space,” Amara said. “It is almost like an extra barrier just
to wear the jersey.”
For Calvert, getting back on his bike remains a question. His freshman teammates Logan
Whitcomb and Landon Hendershot helped provide the confidence he needs as he works toward a
return.
“Physically they had it worse than I do right now, and they were both immediately like, ‘We
have to ride again. We don’t have an option.’ So it was just encouraging and inspiring that two
people that had it harder than me are immediately saying that we have to get back to our careers
again after this,” Calvert said. “Cycling creates. It is just a community you can lean on. So it
makes me not want to leave it.”
That sense of community extended beyond the cycling team. Students affected by the accident
emphasized the support they received from Milligan’s administration, professors, staff and peers.
“The community here was amazing, if I’m being honest,” Amara said.
Ellery Cox, Haylan’s girlfriend, said professors immediately reached out after the deaths.
“As soon as I found out that they had passed, I had two professors knocking on my door, coming
in immediately, just sitting with me,” Cox said. “I’m still trying to figure out how to get myself
back to normal, and my concern for teammates and you just have these great professors, a great
community and great teammates to lean on during a really, really tough time.”
Schröder experienced that support while receiving treatment at the hospital. She said
administrators and professors visited her and helped her family and other injured riders with
necessities such as lodging and food.
“And they were helping everyone who stayed at the hospital so that they could get a hotel room.
They were helping my parents out; they were giving them food when they came to the Airbnb
because they didn’t have time to get anything,” Schröder said. “I would say I’m not the most
religious, but everyone wanted to pray for me, and that kind of did something with me.
Especially because I was on a lot of pain medication, it felt comforting. So no matter how much
you believe in something, it did really help.”
President Stephen Waers echoed a similar sentiment with the Stampede, “Haylan and Brayden
were deeply loved members of the Milligan community, and their loss has affected many of us in
ways that are difficult to put into words. In the days and weeks since the accident, I have been
moved by the strength and care of our students, faculty and staff, particularly the way our cycling
team has supported one another through unimaginable grief and recovery. We continue to mourn
alongside Haylan and Brayden’s families and to pray for our students who are healing. At the
same time, we hold fast to the hope we have in Christ and trust that God will continue to sustain
our community as we walk forward together.”
During the opening chapel service on Aug. 25, Waers shared how the campus organized around
the tragedy through quiet acts of stewardship. He pointed to staff keeping vigil with parents,
people delivering meals and students sneaking a guitar into the ICU so Logan Whittington could
play praise music from his bed. Wears praised the community, meeting immense grief with
overwhelming care.
The accident quickly became a national story, something Amara said he was grateful for because
it brought attention to Engdahl and Rogers.
“I’m really happy with how big it got if I’m being honest,” Amara said. “I was worried that
nobody would like to hear about them. I’m happy people found out about Brayden and Haylan.”
For Schröder, remembering Engdahl and Rogers means remembering how fully they lived.
“Haylan and Brayden were two of the people that loved their sport the most. They were the most
open to life. Two of the happiest people I know,” Schröder said. “I’ve never really been close to
them, but I think I could definitely take more of their ideas to just live life. Terrible things
happen, but that’s why you need to appreciate the moments even more.”
Amara said his memories of them extend far beyond cycling.
“It was also more than just riding bikes with them,” Amara said. “Yeah, we started out with
riding bikes, but it was more than just bikes, really. That is what really hurt the most, but that is
what I loved about them the most too. Like, sure, we could talk about bikes end-to-end, but we
could talk about crazy stuff too. That’s what I loved about them.”
Cox remembered Engdahl and Rogers as people who embraced life without worrying about
others’ opinions.
“Those are two of the most optimistic people I have ever met in my life, by far. They really
enjoyed life, like every second of it,” Cox said. “They both did not care what other people
thought whatsoever. Like Haylan being so loud around campus. Not a care in the world.”
For their friends, memories of Haylan and Brayden live on in the little moments — cycling bets,
trips to amusement parks, silly outfits, goofy haircuts and strange food combinations in the
cafeteria.
“In a way I kind of want to be like how they were. I know their passing is always going to affect
me; I’m always going to be sad about it, but I want to go back to my regular self for them,”
Amara said.
Haylan’s celebration of life will take place Sept. 12. Brayden’s service was held Sept. 1.
For Schröder, the team’s slogan now represents more than competition. It represents the
community that carried the team through its darkest moment.
“‘When the team wins, everyone wins’ is not just a team slogan for me anymore. It is the
ultimate show for me that we can be there for each other every time,” Schröder said. “Coming to
the U.S. didn’t just bring me on a team, but it gave me a family. I think there is nothing really
compared to a cycling team, but at the same time it wasn’t just the cycling team that was a
family. As tragic as everything was, there was a big community.”
The Milligan Counseling Center continues to be an available resource for those who need it. For
more information, please visit https://www.milligan.edu/thecounselingcenter/.
Editor’s Note: Credit for the primary reporting, interviewing and writing on this story goes to
Emily Haas.
By: Emily Haas, Alissa Smith, and Gabby Jones
Comments