Oakwood Baptist Church

Student athlete killed in crash

If you ask Nolen Vargas ' parents, the simple fact of his birth 18 years ago was a miracle.

His was not a planned birth. His mother, Joyce Vargas, had a tubal ligation four years before she became pregnant with Nolen.

“He was like a miracle baby, and he was the joy of the house,” said the teen's father, Leon Vargas, by telephone Monday. “We felt like we were really blessed.”

Nolen, a recent Canyon High School graduate who excelled at track and cross country, died in a single-vehicle rollover in New Braunfels early Sunday.

He and two co-workers from Best Buy, where Nolen installed stereos, spent Saturday night playing video games to celebrate his graduation. Nolen was driving his co-worker's vehicle south on Texas 46 about 5:50 a.m. when the vehicle veered across the northbound lanes and into a drainage culvert. It then struck an embankment, flew into the air, landed upside-down and slid across the grass, according to a New Braunfels Police Department news release.

Nolen and his front-seat passenger, 21, were trapped in the vehicle and had to be extricated. A passenger in the back seat, also 21, was able to crawl out, police said. Both passengers, from Seguin, were flown to University Hospital , where they remained in stable condition Monday. Police have not yet released their names.

On his way to one of his daughter's houses Sunday to notify her of Nolen's death, Vargas passed a wrecker towing an “unbelievably smashed vehicle.” Relatives now believe it was the vehicle Nolen had driven Sunday morning.

Police did not say what caused the crash.

Nolen and Leon Vargas did everything together, the father said. All of the Vargases' children are talented at basketball and volleyball, but Nolen took up long-distance running in the fifth grade. He was already winning races in middle school, his father said, and joined Canyon's varsity cross country team as a freshman.

“He liked being able to run without getting tired when most kids couldn't,” Vargas said. “He would just fly, and I would say, ‘That's my boy.'”

By the time he graduated, Nolen had won close to 50 medals, his dad estimated. Cross country remained his forte, but during track season his senior year, he joined the mile relay team. He was “excelling like crazy,” relatives said.

“It was wonderful to watch the way he was growing up as a young man,” Vargas said. “He had really matured to be a good person, and he never failed at anything.

Oakwood Girls' Weekend 2011 | Oakwood Baptist Church

Inviting all Women of Oakwood to join in a weekend of fun, food, fellowship, relaxation, and shopping in the beautiful town of Salado, Texas!!

Summer is upon us and with the hustle and bustle of work, kiddos, and summer camps we are all in need of a little “girl time”!

You can join us for as little as $130 for the entire weekend including four meals…WOW!!

Check your calendars for July 29-31… Please visit us in the foyer or email Denise Steele at Rockinds@aol.com

We would love to have you join us!!!

History of Oakwood Baptist Church, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1838-1974

The Sacred Trust, Sketches of the Southern Baptist Convention Presidents

Manufacturers' record

Avenues of faith, shaping the urban religious culture of Richmond, Virginia, 1900-1929

The history and memories of Oakwood Baptist Church, 1916-1976