Months after fatal crash, legacies of 4 Walkerton, Ont., students and their teacher live on

As the last game of the Ontario senior girls' basketball championships was nearing the final buzzer, tears streamed down the cheeks of the Walkerton District Community School players with almost every pass.

The game was the culmination of their high school careers, with the team finishing among the top eight teams in Ontario. But it also was part of their toughest season, as they were playing without a pivotal teammate — Olivia Rourke — just half a year after the loss of the 17-year-old and four other members of their school community in a multi-vehicle crash.

"We knew our season was over and we've done as well as we could expect to do," said Dan Rourke, one of the coaches and Olivia's dad. "They really kind of broke down and every shot they made, they started crying and the other team would be consoling them. It was quite emotional. The basketball season ended, but the legacy is still there."

Also killed in the May 2024 crash was Olivia's classmates — Rowan McLeod, 17, Kaydance Ford, 16, and Danika Baker, 16 — and their teacher and coach, Matt Eckert, 33. The five were returning from a softball tournament in Dorchester, Ont., when the car they were in collided with a transport truck and then an SUV.

This week, Ontario Provincial Police announced their investigation into the crash was complete no charges would be laid.

Since the crash, memorial funds and foundations have been set up to keep the girls' legacies alive. Each student was involved in many sports and Eckert was a beloved coach, so the connections to athletics remain important.

"Each family is doing their own thing. It's amazing to see how they have turned tragedy into a little bit of positive," Rourke said.

Initiatives honouring the five who lost their lives include:

These efforts are just one way to keep their memories alive and give people who didn't know them some insight into their lives, said Lydia McIntosh, 17, a member of the senior girls' basketball team.

"It really just makes other people want to be better people. They were all just great people. They were all really big parts of our school community."

During their historic run at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) basketball tournament last month, the players wore athletic tape on their wrists, writing tributes to Olivia on them. Her photo was printed on a pillow and set on the bench, and the team uniforms featured a patch with Olivia's No. 10 on them.

Focusing brought students together in the wake of the tragedy and allowed them to channel their energy into something positive, said Talya Barfoot, 17.

"You definitely think of their character traits and you want to bring those into your own life, to take what you learned from them and keep it going to honour them."

Teenagers were drawn to Eckert, who was funny and allowed students to hang out in his room at lunch, said Lydia.