One was to be captain of Santa Fe Preparatory's cross-country team next year. Another was a budding artist and gardener. A third was passionate about recycling and conservation, while another hoped to attend Oxford.

Rose Simmons, 15, Julian Martinez, 16, Alyssa Trouw, 16, and Kate Klein, 16, were killed instantly early Sunday morning when Scott Owens — who police said was driving in the wrong lane on Old Las Vegas Highway while apparently drunk — plowed in to the 1992 Subaru sedan in which they were riding. Avree Koffman, 16, who was driving the Subaru, was in critical condition Sunday at University Hospital in Albuquerque.

Owens, 28, received only minor injuries in the crash and is being held on four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of causing great bodily injury by vehicle at the Santa Fe County jail.

Julian Martinez, artist in the making

Martinez, who came to Monte del Sol a year ago, recently moved to Santa Fe from Virginia, said friends at Cathedral Park, who called him "the king of hacky sack."

"He skateboarded a lot. He loved his little brother," said Colin Gordon, 16.

Joey Stephen, 16, said, "He was a great guy who always helped us out when we were down. He'd be that guy at the park giving away everything he had just to make you feel better."

Amarante Anderson, who attended Monte del Sol with Simmons and Martinez, recalled that Martinez had a nickname of "Jesus" because he used to have "really, really long hair," he said.

Martinez also liked skateboarding, gardening, and played rugby. Anderson said he helped Martinez create and maintain a small plot in the school's garden that included vegetables such as potatoes and chard.

"It's still there," he said, "and it's doing better than all the others. He was really into botany."

Rose Simmons and Avree Koffman, friends, environmental stewards

Simmons "was a pretty social person who liked to hang out with people a lot," Anderson said. But her main interest was in sustainable living and protecting the environment, he said. Simmons would frequently encourage classmates to recycle and helped start a program at Monte del Sol that put recycling bins in each classroom, Anderson said.

Friends say she always wore high heels because she was so short.

The mother of one of Rose's friends said Rose "had a smile that could light up a dark room."

Koffman attended Monte del Sol previously and was at the Career Academy. She was close friends with Simmons and was into some of the same sustainable-living principles as her friend, Anderson said.

Kate Klein, a tenacious spirit

Kate Klein wasn't the fastest member of Prep's cross country team, but what she lacked in speed she made up for in tenacity and passion for running, said Emma Hamilton, a member of the team who graduated this year.

"One of the things that was so amazing about her was that she was not very fast," Hamilton said. "But she was, by far, the most dedicated person on the team. She just loved the sport and she was a really good leader. She was a really important member of the team. We were really excited for her to be captain."

Klein also was kind and helpful to others, Hamilton said.

"She was the nicest person you'd ever want to meet," she said. "She was really open and caring. You don't always meet people who are so fun to be around."

The crash that took her friend's life was shocking, she said.

"I just can't even really believe it," Hamilton said. "It's so horrible and sad. Everyone will miss her so much."

Jim Leonard, head of Santa Fe Prep, agreed.

"You live, to some extent, in fear of this if you work with teenagers or have them like my wife and I do," he said. "(But) you never expect this is going to happen. It's such a tremendous loss to the school, to the community and to the families. It leaves you speechless."

In addition to her kindness and dedication to cross country, Klein also was a smart young woman, Leonard said. She won a prestigious award from Bryn Mawr College last year for showing "a real love of learning and the life of the intellect," he said.

In elementary school, Klein was an accomplished figure skater going to regional competitions and had participated in youth theater productions with Pandemonium Productions.

Alyssa Trouw, an original thinker

One of Trouw's teachers who assembled at Cathedral Park called her "a born leader" who was a member of his Teen Action Program at Santa Fe Prep. "She loved the people (at the school), she loved the place." He said Alyssa was among those who served meals to the homeless at St. Elizabeth Shelter every Thursday. "She loved that work of helping other people," he said.

Trouw also was a gifted student, Leonard said.

"She was very independent-minded — a real sort of original thinker," he said. "She was a kid who marched to the beat of her own drummer."

Chemistry teacher Amy Jordan said Trouw wanted to go to Oxford. "She was artistic, she had a sharp analytical brain," Jordon recalled.

Trouw particularly liked doing community service at St. Elizabeth Shelter, hanging out with her friends, reading literature and discussing ideas, Leonard said.

"She was a very sharp young woman," he said.

Contact Jason Auslander at 986-3076 or :jauslander@sfnewmexican.com. Staff writer Phaedra Haywood and freelancer Dennis Carroll contributed to this report.

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Observances planned

On the Internet, people are organizing a memorial service 6:30 tonight at Cathedral Park (Click here for map and driving directions).

A community gathering is also being planned at Monte del Sol High School (Click for map and driving directions) from 3-5 p.m. on Monday. The public is invited to attend, said Anne Salzmann, interim head learner at the school.

Santa Fe Prep is also holding a gathering Monday 930-11:30 a.m., which is also open to the public. (Click here for a map and driving directions)

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