MINNETONKA, Minn. — Friends and family continue to grieve the loss of 20-year-old Minnetonka High School graduate Nate Stratton, who was killed in a hit-and-run over the weekend near the campus of Indiana University.
Stratton had just started his junior year at IU, where he was pursuing studies in entrepreneurship. Early Sunday morning, while riding an electric scooter in the bike lane of a Bloomington street, police say a 22-year-old driver swerved into him before crossing over the sidewalk and leaving the scene.
According to a police report, witnesses "provided independent speed estimates for (the vehicle) in the range of 50-70mph." Officers wrote in their police report that the driver "had been drinking." KARE 11 is not yet naming the suspect because she hasn't been formally charged by the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office, but the jail confirmed the suspect posted bail and was released Sunday afternoon.
Stratton, who graduated from Minnetonka High School in 2020, was active in the skiing community and competed with the club Team Gilboa.
He spent many days of his childhood on the slopes of Hyland Hills.
"I heard about it last night from another parent on our team, and then slowly, word got out... It's tragic," Team Gilboa Managing Director and U-18 coach Joe Paul said. "He was the penultimate teammate. Everyone rallied around him."
Paul said Stratton was probably one of the hardest workers he had ever coached.
"An extremely methodical athlete. He would watch video, he would study the course, he would ask his teammates what they were working on," Paul said. "He was extremely intuitive and took the thinking of the sport to a level I couldn't even take it to, because he was such a smart young man."
Paul said he spent most of Monday on a text chain with Team Gilboa athletes, now scattered at different colleges across the country. He shared some of their messages with KARE 11:
"It's heartbreaking that such a special and undeserving person was taken way too early. Nate was an incredible person who brought so much to our ski family. I wish we could all be together."
"Thinking of you all with such a heavy heart today. So lucky to have had such an incredible group of people and to know Nate's wonderful light."
"I haven't felt quite right all day since hearing the news... I'm truly heartbroken."
When the current Team Gilboa athletes start dry land practice Tuesday, Joe Paul said they'll all be thinking of Nate Stratton. The team's fall fundraiser will also incorporate some kind of honor for Nate this weekend.
"I don't think it's going to be just tomorrow or this week. It's going to be all year that we're going to have him in our thoughts," Paul said. "The best thing we can do is talk about Nate and our love of him, and his love of Team Gilboa. That's what we plan to do. We plan to talk about him because he's a great guy to talk about."
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