Patrol probes auto accident that killed 2 MCCTC students

Both girls were juniors from West Branch High School.
CANFIELD -- Educators at West Branch High School fondly recalled two teenage girls who died in a one-car crash Thursday morning.
Dr. Scott Weingart, West Branch schools superintendent, said teachers who had Allyson D. Farnsworth last year described her as very hard working and a pleasure to have in class. The teachers said Carrie Jo Quinn was quiet and very respectful, someone who always got along well with others, he said.
Allyson and Carrie, both 16, were on their way to the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center just before 8 a.m. Thursday when their car crashed near the Palmyra Road school, according to the Canfield post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
Allyson, of Homeworth Road, Alliance, died at the scene. Carrie, of Lake Front Drive, Beloit, was taken by helicopter to St. Elizabeth Health Center and died there, the patrol said.
Rick Jamrozik, Mahoning County coroner's investigator, said both girls sustained multiple injuries. He said Allyson would have turned 17 in March and Carrie would have turned 17 next month.
Anyone who witnessed the accident is asked to call the patrol at (330) 533-6866. The crash remains under investigation.
Allyson, driving a 1996 Pontiac Sunfire, was northbound on Palmyra Road when she lost control on the slippery pavement just south of U.S. Route 224, the patrol said. The car went off the left side of the roadway, struck an embankment and then a utility pole. Neither of the girls was wearing a seat belt, the patrol said.
Allyson and Carrie were both West Branch High School juniors who this year began attending classes at the career center, Weingart said.
He said Allyson was enrolled in cosmetology classes and Carrie was enrolled in the interactive media (video production) program.
"It's a sad day," Weingart said Thursday afternoon. "When we got the word, we dispatched a counselor to the career center."
Weingart said students at West Branch were told early Thursday afternoon that the girls had been in a severe, not fatal, accident.
He said students had no classes today but were encouraged to come in if they needed someone to talk with about what happened. Teachers would be at work today and available for the students, he said.
The superintendent said classes dismissed early Thursday afternoon because it was exam day at West Branch. Roughly 30 students who knew Allyson and Carrie stayed after school, and counselors were available for them, he said.
Ed Capazinski, career center principal, could not be reached.