Ragin' Cajuns pull out 12-10 victory over Cowboys

 

LAFAYETTE — The University of Louisiana Lafayette is in mourning today as the university, and its athletic department, deals with the death of volunteer softball coach Geri Ann Glasco, daughter of Ragin’ Cajuns head softball coach Gerry Glasco.

Geri Ann Glasco was killed in a multi-vehicle crash early Thursday morning on I-10. She was 24 years old.

“We are devastated by this news, and are focused on supporting Coach Glasco and Vickie, their family and our softball program,” Director of Athletics Bryan Maggard said in a statement. “We all loved Geri Ann and the spirit she brought to the Ragin’ Cajuns family while positively impacting our student-athletes. We are praying for the Glasco family during this remarkably difficult time.”

According to a Louisiana State Police spokesman, Troop I was notified of a crash shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday involving multiple vehicles on I-10 eastbound east of Louisiana Avenue. The crash claimed the lives of Glasco and Kenneth McNeil, 45, of Houston.

According to Troop I, William Rawlings, 67, of Killeen, Texas, was driving a 2010 Freightliner 18-wheeler eastbound on I-10 when he encountered slow moving traffic in an active construction zone. For unknown reasons, Rawlings was unable to slow down and struck the rear of the 2015 Dodge Ram pickup McNeil was driving.

That crash began a chain reaction involving a total of five vehicles. McNeil’s truck was pushed into Glasco’s vehicle, a 2017 Ford Escape, which struck the rear of a second 18-wheeler, which in turn struck another tractor-trailer.

According to the Troop I spokesman, McNeil and Glasco both suffered fatal injuries as a result of the crash. The Lafayette Parish Coroner’s Office pronounced both victims dead at the scene. Impairment is unknown and standard toxicology tests are pending. Rawlings submitted a breath sample which showed no alcohol present at the time of the crash.

The investigation is ongoing, and charges may be pending, the spokesman said.

Glasco was the youngest of Gerry and Vickie Glasco’s three children. She was known as an active volunteer in the Eugene, Oregon, community where she was a student-athlete at the University of Oregon from 2015 to 2016. Glasco worked at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders in Portland, Oregon, and also accumulated more than 300 volunteer hours helping in local elementary schools in Oregon.

Glasco was twice named NFCA First Team All-Region on the diamond for the Ducks. Before that she earned Southeastern Conference Co-Freshman of the Year honors at the University of Georgia, where her father was an assistant coach.

Glasco began her coaching career in 2017 as a student assistant on Oregon’s staff while also serving on the staffs of Mt. Hood Community College and Sandy High School. Glasco joined her father’s staff back at UL in October.