LEHI — After a five-day spring break, coaches and faculty at Lehi High School had a sad and somber return to school Tuesday.
They were greeted with news that longtime baseball, softball and basketball coach Lynn "Rock" Allan had been seriously injured and his wife, Janene, killed in a head-on collision late Thursday night near the Utah/Arizona border south of St. George.
"Everyone is just shocked," said Lehi principal Sheldon Worthington. "He has such a wide influence around here and everyone loved and respected his wife. We're deeply saddened and our hearts go out to him."
The Allans were driving south on I-15 in the Virgin River Gorge about 9 p.m. Thursday when they were hit head-on by a suspected drunken driver who was driving a dark-colored truck with the lights off, driving north in the southbound lanes.
The collision killed Janene Nance Allan, 49, instantly and hospitalized Lynn Allan for more than a day with lacerations to his scalp and a severe concussion. He was released from the St. George hospital Saturday afternoon but is still suffering from lingering effects of the concussion, according to Worthington.
The suspected drunken driver was killed when his vehicle was hit by a semitrailer truck that was trailing the Allan car.
"This is such a senseless tragedy," Worthington said.
Lynn Allan, a former star athlete at Springville High School in the late 1960s, had coached Lehi's baseball team for several years and then coached the girls softball team, leading them to a second-place finish last year in the state 3A tournament. This year he coached the boys sophomore basketball team and was assistant coach for the varsity squad. Besides teaching math, he's also been serving as the school's assistant athletic director, preparing to take over next year for the retiring Lou Andrus.
"We're expecting that once he recovers that he'll be back with us," Worthington said.
The couple met in high school. They were married for 29 years and have four children. Janene Allan's funeral is scheduled for Saturday in Lehi, with burial in the Springville Evergreen Cemetery.
E-mail: jimr@desnews.com