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This is the hardest story I have ever had to post on our news pages. Toni was a dear friend, and will be missed so much by us and the wrestling community. Her grandparents are the best people you could ever want to meet and my prayers go out to them. We met the Copelands when Toni was just a little girl and have looked forward to going to the various tournaments to see them and watch Toni compete. Joey really enjoyed the times they got to spend together at the OTC camps and the tournaments.
Donald and Debora, We will be thinking of you in our prayers. If there is anything we can do for you let us know.
Jerry Miller!!!
PHOTO: Flowers were left on the Picnic Rocks beach Monday in memory of Toni Copeland, who was caught in a crosscurrent and drowned Sunday, along with Cassiano Huckabee. Inset, Northern Michigan University student and United States Olympic Education Center athlete Amberle Montgomery holds a candle during a memorial for Huckabee and Copeland at NMU Monday night. (Journal photos by Steve Brownlee and Camilla Mingay)
By STEVE BROWNLEE, Journal Staff Writer 10/4/05
MARQUETTE - The lure of Lake Superior near Picnic Rocks in Marquette has been too great for some visitors, Northern Michigan University students and even some long-time local residents.
And it has cost the lives of more than a dozen people since the 1960s.
There have been 13 drownings reported around the Picnic Rocks area since 1961, according to records researched Monday by Detective Capt. Mike Angeli of the Marquette Police Department.
That includes two 18-year-olds who lost their lives Sunday afternoon while trying to wade and swim to the rocky outcroppings little more than a city block away from the beach and parking area off Lakeshore Boulevard.
Toni Alicia Copeland of McDonough, N.Y., and Cassiano Huckabee of Chicago drowned in about 9 feet of water after getting caught in strong crosscurrents between the shore and the rocks, according to the Marquette Police Department.
Both victims recently moved to the area to attend school. Huckabee was a freshman at NMU, while Copeland was a senior at Marquette Senior High School and a member of the U.S. Olympic Education Center women's wrestling program.
The most recent drowning had occurred on Labor Day 1996, when USOEC athlete Michael Nunnally, 23, lost his life in 9 to 10 feet of water in the same area. Nunnally had been a promising boxing prospect.
A number of other lives have been saved by rescuers during the same 45-year period, Angeli added, including at least one person earlier this summer.
The area encompassed in Angeli's survey spans about a mile of shoreline, roughly from the "triangle area" where Pine Avenue meets Lakeshore to the north and just before the McCarty's Cove area near the Coast Guard station and Marquette Maritime Museum to the south.
No signs warn those entering the water of the potential danger, though some in city government, including the police and the parks and recreation departments, have discussed the matter internally in the past.
"Unfortunately, a lot of signs are disregarded by the public," said Parks and Recreation Director Hugh Leslie. "We do post signs at beaches the public has indicated to us they want lifeguarded, such as McCarty's Cove and South Beach, when lifeguards are not on duty."
A different strategy has been employed at NMU, where freshman orientation sessions include discussions about being wary while enjoying the outdoors.
"We've stressed in both our formal large-group sessions and in smaller sessions with counselors about the dangers that lurk out there, such as the (Lake Superior) breakwalls, Picnic Rocks, partying in the woods during bad weather and the railroad bridge trestle," said Carl Holm, director of Housing and Residence Life at NMU.
Both of Sunday's victims were remembered by those who had known them for the brief period they had lived in the Upper Peninsula.
Coaches Shannyn Gillespie and Tony DeAnda and members of the wrestling team paid their respects to Copeland at the lakeshore near Picnic Rocks Sunday evening, leaving a small bouquet of cut flowers in the sand where the beach ends at the rocky area meant to keep the lake from eroding the parking lot.
"She was a very happy person who could motivate just by stepping into a room," Gillespie said.
Arrangements for a more formal service were still being planned as of this morning, according to USOEC Director Jeff Kleinschmidt.
Meanwhile, an informal candlelight vigil was held Monday evening in the courtyard between Payne Hall and Halverson Hall, where Huckabee lived. An estimated 100 to 150 attended the service, according to Cindy Paavola, NMU communications director.
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Oxford pays tribute to drowning victim Probe continues in Copeland's death
BY JIM WRIGHT 10/5/05
Press & Sun-Bulletin
Oxford Academy and Central School students began paying their respects Tuesday to 18-year-old Toni Alicia Copeland, who drowned Sunday in an area of Lake Superior that officials say has claimed 13 lives since 1961.
A candle-lighting ceremony was held at Blackhawk Stadium, the school's football field, after the family had received friends during a two-hour open house at a nearby fire station.
City of Marquette Police in Michigan are continuing their investigation into Sunday's incident that also claimed the life of Cassiano Huckabee, an 18-year-old Northern Michigan University freshman who had been swimming with Copeland.
The two failed to get back to shore after struggling with the current. It took divers approximately a half-hour to recover the bodies, which were about 150 feet from shore off Picnic Rocks on Lakeshore Boulevard, detective Capt. Mike Angeli said.
Police investigators said waves in the area where the two entered the water were high and strong winds created a current. Police said the two were making their way back to shore when they were overcome.
Copeland had spent her life in the Oxford and McDonough area and completed her junior year in June before leaving for the U.S. Olympic Training Center on the campus of Northern Michigan University, where she was practicing for the 2008 Olympics. Copeland, who was finishing her senior year of high school in Marquette, expected to compete in wrestling.
She is survived by her mother and stepfather, Cassandra and Isiah Frazier; her father, Milton Brown; her grandparents, Donald and Deborah Copeland; and eight brothers. She had lived with her grandparents while attending school in Oxford, where she was a three-year member of the wrestling team.
Friends of the family may call from 12 to 3 and 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Root Funeral Home, 23 N. Chenango Street, Greene. Funeral services will start at 11 a.m. Friday at Conklin Avenue First Baptist Church, with the Rev. Greg Johnson, pastor of the Beautiful Plain Baptist Church, officiating. Burial will be in Sylvan Lawn Cemetery in Greene.
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McDonough girl drowns in Lake Superior
Copeland in Michigan to train for Olympics
BY JIM WRIGHT 10/3/05
Press & Sun-Bulletin
Toni Copeland, the 18-year-old McDonough woman trying to become an Olympic wrestler, drowned Sunday with a friend while they were swimming in Lake Superior.
Copeland was staying at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich., while she trained for the 2008 Olympics.
She was pulled from the lake -- 150 feet from shore and in approximately 9 feet of water -- about 30 minutes after she was reported missing and a possible drowning victim, Marquette City Police said Sunday.
Cassiano Huckabee, 18, of Chicago, a student at Northern Michigan University, drowned at the same time, according to police.
The two were pronounced dead at the Marquette General Hospital where their bodies were transported, detective Captain Mike Angeli said.
Copeland lived with her grandparents, Donald and Deborah Copeland, of Route 220, McDonough, while attending Oxford Academy and Central School.
"She had a bright, bubbly personality," said former Oxford Academy Superintendent Grayson Stevens. "She had one of the nicest smiles I have ever seen. She was a terrific kid, an excellent, absolutely well-rounded student. Monday is going to be a real tough day in the school."
Copeland attended Oxford schools all her life, finishing her junior year in June before leaving Chenango County when given the opportunity to train in Michigan, at Olympic Committee expense, under the guidance of head women's wrestling coach Shannon Gillespie.
The school district's grief counseling services will be available when the high school opens today, said Superintendent Randy Squires.
The U.S. Olympic Training Center is located in Marquette, Mich., on the campus of Northern Michigan University. Copeland was listed by police as being a member of the U.S. Olympic Education Center.
Police said they received the initial call at 2:43 p.m. and dispatched units to the area of Picnic Rocks on Lakeshore Boulevard. Two department divers were transported to the scene by a U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat, and an immediate search began for the two missing swimmers, Angeli said.
"She was a pioneer in the sport and put a fresh face on wrestling in New York state. She was a real success story from our area,"said Oxford coach Scott Green.
Copeland recently placed fifth in the 160-pound open women's world trials and was a two-time runner-up -- including this year -- at the Junior Nationals, held in Fargo, N.D., Green said.
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Copeland a pioneer in her sport
By Patrick Newell
Sun Sports Editor 10/4/05
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I didn’t know Toni Copeland that well, and I didn’t cover her accomplishments as a wrestler to the degree they merited.
Toni died Sunday swimming with a friend in Lake Superior in Northern Michigan at a swimming site popular among residents in that area. Reports on this end say she and her friend, who also died, were quickly swept away by a strong undercurrent from an apparent safe zone to ominous danger some 50 to 60 yards away from shore.
It was a shocking revelation Monday morning when, The Evening Sun staff was apprised of her untimely passing, and I scrambled along with my co-worker Jeff Morse to assemble information and comments from local residents before deadline. It was a complete blur with no time to soak in the gravity of the occurrence.
Earlier that morning, an acquaintance of mine and follower of local sports called to set up a short meeting. I had no idea what he wished to speak about, but I surmised it was something bad. It was indeed bad. He was wondering if we would follow up our news release of Toni’s passing with another article. I could also tell he was looking for some direction; some answers to rationalize the question of “why did it happen to her?” Admittedly, my first thought before the meeting was, “what did I do wrong?” The passing of a star athlete and well-liked individual who calls Chenango County home didn’t register on my mental radar.
I first met Toni nearly five years ago during her seventh-grade year. She was already an established wrestler in the pee wee and junior ranks, and was racking up medals and trophies in droves. I spent a few hours at her home in East McDonough, where she lived with her grandparents Don and Deborah Copeland. It was then that I wrote my first article and took my first picture of her.
Toni’s grandparents legally adopted her at a young age, and in a time of their lives when they would typically enjoy the fruits of retirement, they worked and supported their granddaughter through her athletic endeavors above and beyond what most of us would do. They went more than the distance traveling thousands of miles driving her to sites of tournaments where Toni could find the best competition against girls of similar age and weight. It was a sacrifice Don and Deb wouldn’t think twice about. Too often, check that, most often, Toni blew away her opponents on the mat. She often wrestled against kids/women older than her, and that put her in good stead for her future goal: To become an Olympian. Whenever I saw Don and Deb - and they were at every wrestling event involving Oxford - they beamed with joy watching their granddaughter compete - against boys no less. Periodically, Don called me at the office to fill me in about Toni’s latest achievement. Girls wrestling wasn’t something covered in the daily sports pages, so the job of reporting the news was left to the Copelands. It shouldn’t have been that way, and maybe Toni’s lasting impact on the sport will change that.
Earlier this year, Toni placed fifth at 158 pounds in the world team trials against women who were already beyond college-aged. It was an absolutely stunning accomplishment for a scholastic-aged girl to compete on the same level as those with much more maturity. “What that means is that if this was an Olympic year, this was the qualifying tournament and there were only four ahead of her for an Olympic spot,” said Toni’s Oxford coach and Shamrock Wrestling Club coach, Scott Green. Green coached Toni for nine years from the first days she put on a singlet. “She had a bright future and her goal was to train for the 2008 games.”
Toni was given a golden opportunity earlier this year, one only afforded the absolute elite in the nation. Northern Michigan, an Olympic training center with top-of-the-line facilties, in conjunction with the U.S. Olympic development team, offered her a scholarship. Toni still had her senior year of high school to complete, but she could begin her training right away and then begin commence her college career next fall t Northern Michigan. “It’s such a selective process to be considered for this,” Green said. “It’s a program that is fully funded with room and board.”
Still, it was a difficult decision to leave the family that supported her and the friends she had made in vast quantities. “Wrestling with boys her size, she could only go so far,” Green said. “For her development as a wrestler to continue, she needed the competition and training with girls. We would have loved to have been in position (at Oxford) to train her effectively.”
As a high school wrestler, Toni competed at a level most kids only dream about. One of her Oxford wrestling teammates, J.P. O’Connor, is the most decorated high school wrestler in Chenango County history with three straight state championships. He’ll likely sign with a top-level Division One program later this fall. He still has a long way to go before he is among the top five in the nation in his weight class. Even Troy Nickerson, a former teammate of Toni’s in the Shamrock Wrestling Club - who has compiled the most distinguished scholastic wrestling career in New York State history - has yet to place himself among the top wrestlers in the nation of all ages in his class.
As accomplished an athlete as she was, Toni remained grounded, friendly, approachable, and always offering a smile at the sight of a friend or someone she knew. She also wasn’t afraid to humble herself and show her goofy side. At the 2003 Section IV championship football game between her hometown Blackhawks and Deposit, she donned the team mascot uniform when no one else would. With the temperature hovering around zero, she flopped around in the bird costume like a crazy chicken attempting to fire up the local crowd. She was the head cheerleader for a school that didn’t have a cheerleading squad.
Wrestling among boys on a talented high school squad, Toni was never considered the token girl on the squad, and Green said his top wrestlers, J.P. and Steve Loomis, would never consider uttering a statement related to her gender. “Toni wasn’t a girl who wrestled,” Green said. “She was a wrestler.”
In light of Toni’s death, Green said the Shamrock Wrestling Club is establishing a Toni Copeland Fund, and in lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the fund. Funds received, Green said, will go toward identifying, selecting, and developing young girl wrestlers.
“She was an ambassador and a pioneer of her sport,” Green said. “Not just for herself, but to help her sport and to have it taken seriously.”
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10/5/2005
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
Toni Copeland, 18, of McDonough, N.Y., died in a drowning accident while swimming on Lake Superior in Marquette, Mich. on Sunday, October 2.
Copeland, a high school senior, was a member of the U.S. Olympic Education Center (USOEC) women’s wrestling program at Northern Michigan Univ. She was a high school senior, and was attending Marquette High School while training with the USOEC wrestling team full-time.
Copeland was drowned along with Northern Michigan student Cassiano Hucakbee, 18, from Chicago. They were caught in a crosscurrent and pulled under near a popular location on the lake called Picnic Rocks.
Copeland was nationally ranked on the Senior level in women’s freestyle wrestling. She placed fifth at the 2005 U.S. Nationals at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.
Copeland a Junior National runner-up the last two years. She was third at the 2005 FILA Junior Nationals, and was a medalist at the FILA Cadet Nationals for three straight years (2002-2004).
She is survived by her grandparents Don Copeland and Debbie Copeland.
“I was devastated,” said USOEC Women’s Wrestling Head Coach Shannyn Gillespie. “When you lose an athlete, it is like losing a child. She brought energy and a big smile to the program. She got other people up. It was a pleasure to have her on the team for the short time she was here. She will be missed.”
Gillespie indicated that practice had been cancelled for two days to allow the team members to deal with the tragic loss of a teammate. There was also a meeting and memorial held involving all of the USOEC sports programs.
A candlelight vigil was held in her memory on Tuesday, October 4 in her hometown.
The funeral for Toni Copeland will be held on Friday, October 7 at the Beautiful Plains Baptist Church at 93 Riverside Dr. in Binghamton, N.Y. at 11:00 a.m. The phone number is (607) 723-0277.
There will also be viewings for Toni on Thursday, October 6 at the Roots Funeral Home, on Chenango Street in Green, N.Y. from 12:00 noon – 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
There will also be a memorial service on the Northern Michigan campus in Marquette, Mich., arranged by USOEC athletes, on Thursday night, October 6 at the Michigan room of the University Center at 9:00 p.m.
A memorial fund called the Toni Fund has been established by her local wrestling club, the Shamrock Wrestling Club. The fund will support efforts to foster female wrestling in the Section IX region of New York, and assist talented young women wrestlers in the development of their careers.
To donate to this memorial fund, send contributions to:
Toni Fund
c/o Shamrock Wrestling Club
7 Kirkwood Ave.
Binghamton, NY 13901
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USOEC athlete, NMU student drown; Tragedy at Picnic Rocks
PETE MACKIN, Journal Staff Writer 10/5/05
MARQUETTE - Two people drowned Sunday in about 9 feet of water near Picnic Rocks in Marquette, pulled under by Lake Superior's crosscurrent.
Dozens of people watched in horror from the beach as the two teenagers called for help, then were pulled under by 2- to 4-foot waves driven by 20-knot wind gusts.
Police identified the victims as Toni Alicia Copeland, 18, of McDonough, N.Y., and Cassiano Huckabee, 18, of Chicago.
Copeland, a 2002 New York State champion wrestler, was training at the U.S. Olympic Education Center. She was also attending Marquette Senior High School. Huckabee was a student at Northern Michigan University.
"He (Huckabee) called for help, but there was nothing we could do," said Katrina Smith of Marquette. "My husband Scott dialed 911."
Marquette police and firefighters arrived within 10 minutes, just as the two swimmers went under for the last time.
"She went under as I was talking to police (on a cell phone)," Scott Smith said. "I looked back at the officer as he pulled up and then went to point out to where (the other swimmer) was and he was gone."
Kayaker Max Graves of Marquette, fighting wind and waves, attempted to reach the swimmers but was flipped over and dumped into the lake.
Within minutes, the life preserver he had dropped from his kayak was drifting out of sight across the bay. Graves righted his boat on Picnic Rocks and returned to shore as the U.S. Coast Guard arrived.
At around 3:30 p.m., Marquette police divers located the bodies of the victims in about 9 feet of water, about 150 feet off shore.
Two unidentified swimmers who were trapped on Picnic Rocks by the weather - but were not swimming with the two victims - were rescued by a Department of Natural Resources vessel immediately following the incident.
The swimmers had begun making their way back to shore as the wind temporarily subsided but Marquette firefighters, shouting through a megaphone, ordered the two women back to the rocks. The gusts and waves returned moments later.
The waves were becoming choppy when the Smiths arrived with their toddler Alex to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather on a nearby playground. The group of college students had arrived just as Katrina Smith sat down on a bench by the beach.
"They went into the lake right where the beach ends and the rocks start by the parking lot here," she said. "She (Copeland) went right in. He (Huckabee) said it was too cold, but eventually followed her. They were both out pretty far when he started to yell for help."
Scott Smith said the two swimmers became separated as the current pushed them several hundred yards through the Picnic Rocks shoal. A shifting sand bar leads to the rocks through the shoal. Often local high school students paint their "class of" number each year on the rocks, but the small islands are not part of the nearby swimming area.
"There should be something there, at least a warning sign. Those of us who live here know it's dangerous, but visitors don't," Katrina Smith said. "High accident area signs get my attention on the roadways. They need a sign saying this is a drowning site."
Todd and Marnie Martinson of Marquette were also at the scene with their daughter and family.
"The lake was too rough. We just watched two people drown right in front of us. It was terrible," Martinson said. "A lot of people considered going in, but without a lifejacket in that water, you'd just be another victim."
Katrina Smith said that although there was much discussion of going in after the two swimmers, it was apparent to the small crowd that nobody would have been able to save the two swimmers in the rough waves.
"The hardest thing is knowing that he saw all of the people on the rocks. He was waving his arms and pleading for help and wondering why no one was coming to help him," Katrina Smith said.
"It's a very sad and somber feeling when two people you just saw (having fun at the beach) drown like that," she said. "I pray for their families and their roommate who was with them on the beach."
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