Moment of Silence Held at Football Game for Hastings Teen Killed in Crash

Hastings High School started their first home football game Friday night with a moment of silence in honor of a Hastings teen killed in a car crash.

Madeline Sake, 16, died after a two-vehicle crash on a gravel road Thursday night. Friends say she had planned on going to the game.

According to the Dakota County Sheriff's Office, Sake was driving on Lewiston Boulevard south of 190th Street East in Marshan Township around 7:50 p.m. Thursday, when her car and a pick-up truck crashed.

Sake was taken to the hospital, where she died.

Authorities say 18-year-old Blake Beissel was driving the pick-up truck. He was taken to the hospital along with his two passengers. All three people in the pick-up truck had non-life threatening injuries.

The preliminary investigation reveals the vehicles crashed near a hill crest. Authorities say there's no evidence that alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash.

Authorities are investigating if speed was a factor. They believe the hill is dangerous with poor visibility.

All four people involved in the crash had planned to meet up. Sake had arrived at Beissel's house to meet her friends. They weren't there, so she left. Beissel was driving back to his house, when they crashed on the hill.

According to Superintendent Tim Collins, Madeline was a junior who started school Wednesday. A moment of silence was also held at the school Friday morning.

"She is the kind of person that brought life to everything. Her smile was just different from everybody else's," said Madeline's friend Sam Lenz.

Madeline, who was known to friends as "Maddy," had a twin sister named Abby.

"If somebody was having a bad day, she could instantly lift them up, and make them feel like they are a better person," Lenz said.

The crash is currently under investigation by the Dakota County Sheriff's Office and the Minnesota State Patrol.