A freshman soccer player at Eastern Oklahoma State College who helped lead Sallisaw High School to a state championship earlier this year has died. Eastern Oklahoma State College separately confirmed that two of its students and a local high school student were involved in a crash in Latimer County that began when a driver struck a deer and crossed into oncoming traffic. One student died, while the driver of the other vehicle also was killed.
Sallisaw Public Schools confirmed Girdner's death on Monday, according to 5NEWS, which reported that Girdner had just begun his freshman year and his collegiate athletic career as a forward on the college's soccer team after helping Sallisaw High School win a men's soccer state title this year. In a separate report, Eastern Oklahoma State College confirmed that two of its students and a local high school student were involved in the crash, according to News On 6. One student died, while another was seriously injured and remains hospitalized, per the same report.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported that the crash happened east of Hugle Road, the station's report notes. A driver struck a deer, then crossed the center line into the westbound lane and collided with another vehicle. The driver of that other vehicle also died in the crash, and that person's identity is still pending release by the medical examiner, according to the report — an open question that has not yet been resolved.
College President Offers Condolences as Campus Grieves
Eastern Oklahoma State College President Randy Harp addressed the loss directly. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of our students, as well as everyone affected by this devastating tragedy,” Harp said, per the same account. Harp took office in July 2025 and now leads the college's administration and emergency response, according to a packet from Oklahoma.gov.
The college, based in Wilburton and serving roughly 1,280 students across its main campus and satellite locations, is a small and tight-knit community, according to Wikipedia, which also notes the school was originally founded in 1908 as the Oklahoma School of Mines and Metallurgy. That scale means a loss like Girdner's is felt across the entire student body and reaches into the surrounding high schools that feed the college's athletic programs. The college has asked the community to respect the privacy of the families involved and says it will make mental health services and support available to students, faculty and staff on campus.
How a Deer Strike Becomes a Fatal Head-On Collision
The Latimer County crash follows a pattern that safety experts have long warned about on rural Oklahoma highways. Wildlife specialists with Oklahoma State University Extension advise drivers never to swerve when a deer appears on the road, since swerving into opposing traffic or the shoulder routinely turns a single-vehicle animal strike into a lethal multi-vehicle head-on crash. Experts recommend maintaining the lane and braking firmly instead.
The Oklahoma Highway Safety Office recorded 836 deer-related crashes in 2020, according to OKFB Insurance, with collisions spiking during the fall mating season between October and December. Nationwide, animal-vehicle collisions cause roughly 440 human deaths and $10 billion in economic losses each year, while nearly 1.9 million animal-related crashes occur annually, per OKW News, which cites AAA figures. Even non-fatal strikes carry a steep cost: the average Oklahoma insurance claim for a deer collision reached $6,542 in 2023, driven up by the expense of replacing high-tech vehicle sensors and safety cameras, OKFB Insurance also reports.
A Familiar and Deadly Pattern on Oklahoma Roads
A deer encounter can escalate into a fatal Oklahoma highway tragedy.
Latimer County's rural roads have seen their own recent tragedies. In March 2026, two people died after their car left Southwest 1100th Avenue and overturned into water, underscoring how frequently local emergency crews respond to serious collisions along the county's two-lane routes. Statewide, traffic safety has drawn attention amid rural highway deaths in Oklahoma.
