On March 15, 2022, the USW men’s and women’s golf team travelled to Midland in Texas to play in the Tank Logix Collegiate tournament at the Ranchland Hills golf club. After a long day of golf, they were ready to drive back to Hobbs after a long day on the golf course. They had plans to wake up early the next morning as they needed to leave at 5 AM again, so Tiago called his mum after they left and ask her to call him to wake him up so he would be on time, to come back and play their last rounds. They decided to do a quick stop at chick-fil-A for a dinner that they couldn’t get back in Hobbs at the University. Two of the golfers on the women’s team decided to stay with family and not travel with the team back to Hobbs. The rest of the kids and their coach got into the Ford sprinter van, pulling a small trailer filled with their golf clubs, and headed north on Highway 1788. Traveling south in their direction on the same Highway was a man 39 years and his 13-year-old son. The man had meth in his system and blood and decided to drive anyways. About 8:17 p.m. his truck went into the north bound lane and hit the USW golf van head on with high speed. There was an instant fire along with multiple casualties. Tiago, along with his coach Tyler James, as well as her teammates Karisa Raines, Laci Stone, Jackson Zinn, Travis Garcia and Mauricio Sanchez, all lost their lives. The man and his son lost their lives as well.
Miraculously, Hayden Underhill and Dayton Price survived the horrific accident and got airlifted both continue to heal from scars both literally and emotionally. While we continue to remember Tiago and celebrate his life we will also celebrate the lives of his coach and teammates. These 7 kids are missed so much down here and we all will make sure their legacy will live forever. Now is our time to keep their memory alive and make sure we keep their legacy alive.