A 19-year-old sophomore on Cumberland University’s junior varsity soccer team has died in a motorcycle accident, the Lebanon, Tennessee school confirmed over the weekend. Ethan Gailey, a Kingston Springs native and Harpeth High School graduate, was remembered by the university as a beloved member of its athletic family, even as the exact time, location, and circumstances of the crash remain unannounced by local officials.
Cumberland University announced Gailey’s death in a social media post, writing that the “Cumberland University family is heartbroken by the passing of student-athlete Ethan Gailey, who tragically lost his life in a motorcycle accident over the weekend,” according to Cheatham County Exchange. A university spokesperson said the Phoenix athletic department only planned to share the statement issued on social media and would not make further comment at this time, per the same account.
Gailey joined Cumberland’s men’s soccer program after graduating from Harpeth High School, where he played both soccer and football for the Harpeth Indians, serving as a forward and midfielder on the pitch and a kicker on the football field. Harpeth High School is located in Kingston Springs, a small Cheatham County community west of Nashville, and the school reports an enrollment of about 470 students in grades 9 through 12, according to TSSAA records. TSSAA records also show Gailey wore jersey No. 26 for Harpeth as a freshman midfielder and was named to the team’s official Class A state tournament roster back in 2022.
A Sophomore Season Cut Short
At Cumberland, Gailey had progressed to become a sophomore midfielder and forward on the 2026-27 JV men’s soccer roster following his freshman season in 2025-26, according to Cumberland University Athletics. Cumberland is a private liberal arts school founded in 1842 in Lebanon, roughly 25 miles east of Nashville, fielding 31 athletic teams under the Phoenix mascot in the NAIA’s Mid-South Conference…