Windsor High School junior Luis Manuel Reyes Mon was one of those students who always had a smile on his face and never met a day he didn't like.

Manuel, the name he preferred to be called, died Wednesday morning in a head-on collision west of Greeley, becoming the first person this year to die on Weld County roads.

“He was just an amazing kid,” said Windsor High School cross country coach Ross Wilbur, who coached Manuel for the past two years. “The way I expressed it to one person is if I would ever have a son, I would want my son to be like Manuel. He was a hard-working, determined kid. If he ever had a bad day, you would never know it. Anybody that ever came in contact with him became a better person because of that contact.”

Colorado State Patrol Trooper Nate Reid said troopers were called at 7:49 a.m. to the crash at Colo. 257 just north of U.S. 34.

Reid said a silver 2000 Ford F-250 was traveling south on Colorado 257, and veered into the lane where a white 2009 Toyota Camry was traveling north. The Camry, driven by Manuel, 17, attempted to avoid the collision, but was still struck head-on, Reid said.

The Ford F-250 pickup driver, Wayne Ochsner, 27, of Loveland, sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene and released. Manuel died on scene. A 10-year-old passenger inside the Camry, Manuel's sister, Karen, was taken to North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley with minor to moderate injuries, Reid said. Karen is a fourth-grader at Mountain View Elementary School in Windsor.

Reid said charges are pending further investigation of the crash.

Manuel participated in cross country and was a member of the Knowledge Bowl team at the school and was an excellent student, said Karen Trusler, superintendent of schools at Windsor-Severance Re-4 School District. He transferred into Windsor his sophomore year in fall 2010.

Wilbur said Manuel was always thinking about others. Wilbur said Manuel lived in Dacono, but would drive his mother to work in Greeley and then drive to Windsor with Karen every day to attend school. He said the cross country team talked about getting together in the next two or three weeks to run Manuel's favorite workout to honor him.

“He was upbeat, positive who gave of himself to the point that was probably a flaw,” Wilbur said. “He was just an incredibly altruistic, giving, compassionate, young man. What the kids are really struggling with is how can a kid who gave so much of himself have his life taken from him.”

About 200 students turned out at the high school track at H.J. Dudley Field in Windsor on Wednesday night to pay tribute to Manuel. The students put together the 30-minute vigil and gathered in the student section of the bleachers to talk about and share memories of their friend. The students then walked onto the track, held hands and took a lap in memory of Manuel.

Windsor senior Brayden Campbell, who was a teammate of Manuel's on the cross country team, said he always looked up to Manuel as somebody to model himself after.

“He was an outstanding athlete, but at the same time, a great guy,” Brayden said. “A bunch of the cross country guys would stay after practice to partake in the ‘Manuel Workout.' A couple of times, I ran with him during practice to challenge myself.”

Brayden said the accident will always be hard for him to deal with.

“He was such a huge part of our family, and such a positive influence on me and our friends,” Brayden said. “I'm still in disbelief he's gone.”

Windsor High School biology teacher and Knowledge Bowl adviser Tamara Pennington said Manuel loved the AP biology class and labs she taught him.

“He was just a great kid all the way around, a good athlete and excellent student,” Pennington said. “He would never fail to tell me how excited he was about the upcoming AP labs we were working on. Some AP kids came in after school and said, ‘You know, I don't know if we're going to be able to do this lab tomorrow because he was so excited about it, and I don't know if I can do it.' ”

And there was Manuel's smile that people continue to talk about.

“He had a smile on his face the whole time. He was the life of the party on our Knowledge Bowl team,” Pennington said. “He had a really infectious personality. It's going to be a hard loss. This is the worst thing that can happen. It's devastating. I'm just so heartbroken today.”

Trusler said support people from the district were at Windsor High School talking to students and staff members Wednesday.

“We have all of our psychologists and counselors at the high school,” Trusler said.

Trusler said school district officials send their thoughts and sympathies to Manuel's family.

“It's a tragic time for everyone in our community,” Trusler said. “It's just a very sad time. We are working through the details and the support for each other.”

Windsor High School assistant principal Dick Thomas said professionals from the district who are trained in crisis situations were helpful to the students.

“We're going to have things available for staff that are struggling,” Thomas said. “We do have to remember we have staff members who knew Manuel really well and taught him in class. It's a tough time for a lot of people, and our job is to provide the support that they need to get through the situation.”

Tribune reporter Sharon Dunn contributed to this story.