HOOPESTON – Hoopeston Area High School students and staff said a Rankin teen, who was killed in a pickup truck-semi tractor trailer collision early Thursday morning, was the heart of the boys' basketball team and the school.

"He loved sports," senior Brad Lawson said of his teammate, 17-year-old Michael Symmonds of Rankin. "He was the heart of the team. He was the definition of it."

"We have a thing here called Cornjerker Pride," Principal Larry Maynard added.

"It's all about respect, integrity, responsibility and having pride in our school and community. If there was one person in our building who embodied that, it was Michael. He was all about school spirit and being positive. He was like a hero in our building."

The accident – which also seriously injured Mr. Symmonds' cousin, 16-year-old Dillon Eighner of Rankin – occurred on Illinois 9, about a mile west of Hoopeston. Mr. Symmonds, a member of the boys' junior varsity team, and Eighner, a first-string point guard on the boys' varsity team, were heading to a 6 a.m. basketball conditioning session at the high school.

According to a state police report, Eighner was driving a 1996 Chevrolet S-10 pickup east on Illinois 9. About one-third of a mile east of County Road 1300 East, he crossed into the westbound lane and veered to the north side of the road.

Eighner got back onto the road, but skidded out of control and spun into the westbound lane, the report said. The pickup was struck by an oncoming 2005 Peterbilt semi, driven by 71-year-old Emmett Fischel of Clayton, Ind. He wasn't injured.

Eighner and Mr. Symmonds, both of whom were wearing seat belts, had to be extricated from the pickup. They were taken to Hoopeston Community Memorial Hospital, where Mr. Symmonds was pronounced dead at 6:45 a.m., Vermilion County Coroner Peggy Johnson said.

Eighner later was airlifted to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, according to the report. He was ticketed for improper lane use.

Word of the accident spread quickly through Rankin and Hoopeston, where many people know Mr. Symmonds and Eighner and their families.

"We knew there had been a wreck, but we didn't know who was in it," said Lawson, who attended the conditioning session. Afterward, he said, a teacher gathered the team together and broke the news. "He said Mikey didn't make it."

"We didn't want to believe it happened," teammate Cody Eels said later that afternoon. "We still don't want to believe it."

School administrators and teachers told students of the accident as they arrived at school. Some students, including the teens' teammates, went to the hospital emergency room, while others went home, Maynard said.

Counselors from the school, hospital, VASE and members of the Hoopeston Ministerial Association were at the high school and middle school building, which has about 600 students and 60 teachers, to provide grief counseling. Maynard said some students took advantage of that, while others talked with teachers in classrooms or gathered together to console each other.

Counselors will be available at the school as long as they're needed.

"This isn't going to be something that will go away soon," he said. "We'll be dealing with this for a while, and that's OK. We will need to try to get back on track, but we've got to be sensitive and make sure we're available to these young people."

Though they all shed tears, Maynard, teammates, friends and family members also smiled and laughed as they remembered Mr. Symmonds as someone who loved to make others laugh.

"He was such a character," said Shayla Vermillion of Fithian, a longtime family friend, who was taking pizzas to Mr. Symmonds' family. "He was always cracking jokes. I'll really miss his laugh."

"There are so many things about Michael that makes us smile," aunt Robin Eighner said, speaking on behalf of relatives. "He loved to play jokes on his family and friends. ... He was friendly to everyone he met. He didn't know a stranger."

Relatives called Mr. Symmonds an avid sports fan. When he wasn't playing basketball, he managed the high school boys' soccer and baseball teams.

Though he had health issues, including a vision disability, teammates said he didn't let that stop him from playing basketball or having a positive outlook on life.

"When he got the ball and shot, everyone cheered," Lawson said. "He could shoot, too. He was lights-out."

"What he lacked in skill, he definitely made up in heart," teammate Kyle Hufford added.

"Michael was truly an inspiration," Robin Eighner said. "Although he had limitations, he did not let that keep him from living his life to the fullest. He didn't want to sit back and watch. He wanted to be an active participant."

While the upcoming basketball season will be difficult, teammates said Mr. Symmonds will be there with them in spirit. They also will put his No. 11 jersey on the bench with them.

"Everything we do this season will be for Mikey," Eells said.