It was a bad day for one cow and one Sequim teenager on Highway 3 last Wednesday.

After freeing itself from its pasture on Feb. 25, the cow wandered onto the highway near Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor and into the line of traffic shortly after 7 p.m.

Sequim 18-year-old Sean Douglas Lindstedt was driving a vehicle that collided with the cow, sending it into the air over his small car and back onto the highway behind him.

Lindstedt's passenger, 17-year-old Joseph D. Skerbeck, also from Sequim, was airlifted to Seattle's Harborview Medical Center with facial fractures.

Connie L. Simila, 50, of Kingston, was traveling north behind Lindstedt and hit the cow after it landed on the highway, running into, up and over it.

Neither Lindstedt nor Simila were seriously injured, although she was treated for minor injuries.

A spokesperson at Harborview said Skerbeck remained in the facility early this week and was listed as being in satisfactory condition.

All three were wearing seat belts and no drugs or alcohol were involved, according to a Washington State Patrol press release.

Both vehicles ended up on the northbound exit ramp to Trigger Avenue.

The northbound section of the highway and the Trigger Avenue off ramp were closed to traffic for about an hour while Washington State Patrol troopers investigated and cleared the scene of the collision.

Both vehicles, a 2001 four-door Volkswagen and a 1998 Ford van, were totaled and towed away.

The cow died on the scene.

The herd's owner responded to the collision and returned the remaining cows to their pasture.

Washington State Patrol troopers will continue to investigate, although the cause of the crash has been deemed "cattle in the roadway." No charges have been filed.