A standout suburban Chicago athlete and college track star died over Memorial Day weekend in an accident on a Wisconsin lake, school officials and local authorities said.
Courtland Cornelius, a first-year student and track-and-field athlete at Carthage College, died Friday in what the school’s president, John Swallow, called a "boating accident."
According to the Whitewater Fire Department, crews were called to Whitewater Lake around 5:30 p.m. for a report of a possible drowning. Once there, authorities were told two people were swimming to “retrieve a personal water craft from the lake.”
“During the attempt to recover the craft, a young adult male, not wearing a life vest, experienced distress and went under the water,” the fire department said in a statement.
After three hours of searching, a body was recovered, authorities said. The Walworth County Sheriff’s office was conducting a death investigation, but the identity of the body found was not immediately released.
Family members confirmed the death to the Chicago Tribune saying that Cornelius was swimming with his girlfriend, possibly to retrieve a jet ski, when he said he was tired and motioned for her to keep going.
“When she turned around, he was gone,” Cornelius’ brother Kendric Cornelius told the publication.
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Courtland Cornelius, who was studying criminal justice and had recently ran a record-setting race for Carthage, attended the school with his brother Kendric.
His coach called him “a dedicated student, a talented athlete…and an extremely promising young man."
“In the days ahead, we will work with Courtland's family to determine a fitting way to honor his memory and legacy at Carthage,” Swallow said in a statement. “For now, I ask that you keep his family in your thoughts and prayers as they begin to cope with this tragedy.”
Cornelius previously attended Palatine High School, where he starred on the school’s football and track-and-field teams, the Tribune reported.
A funeral is set for 9 a.m. Saturday at Gluekert Funeral Home in Arlington Heights, family members said.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family after the tragedy, and it has raised over $7000 since it began a day ago.
Shirts that read “Rest in Peace 1998-2018” with a photo of Cornelius on them are being sold to raise funds for the family.
