LAMBERTON, Minn. — A track-and-field star at Minnesota State University in Mankato was killed this week when his car collided with a tractor equipped with a fork loader.
Jeffrey DeCock, 22, a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference champion in the high jump at Mankato, died in the crash at about 9 a.m. Tuesday on U.S. 14 near his hometown of Lamberton in southwestern Minnesota, according to the State Patrol.
DeCock, an MSU sophomore and a graduate of Red Rock Central High School in Lamberton, was driving his 2008 Dodge Charger west on U.S. 14.
The tractor, driven by Steven Churchill of nearby Revere, was attempting a left turn onto a gravel road when the fork on the front of the tractor hit DeCock’s Dodge.
Churchill, 55, was not injured.
Last year, DeCock qualified for nationals in his first-ever meet competing for Mankato with a jump of 7 feet, 1 inch.
He also won all-conference honors by placing first in the high jump at the NSIC Indoor Track and Field Championships with a leap of 6 feet, 9.75 inches. In the nationals last year, he placed 14th at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships.
