Wilson youth Willie Neal, who won an unprecedented eight state Nordic skiing championships and served as a delegate to last August’s Democratic National Convention, died Sunday after being hit by a car while he was roller-skiing in Maine.

The police department for Fort Fairfield, Maine, reported that Neal, 19, was killed Sunday night when he and a companion were training on North Caribou Road. Neal, who was traveling in the westbound lane, was struck from behind by driver Erik Lundquist of Fort Fairfield.

Although an ambulance came to the crash site after authorities were notified at 8:34 p.m., Neal was pronounced dead at the scene, Fort Fairfield Police Chief Joseph Bubar said.

The accident remains under investigation, although alcohol is not believed to have been involved.

Neither Lundquist, an 18-year-old who had recently graduated from high school, nor Neal’s training companion were injured.

Neal’s death cut down a life brimming with athletic, academic and political promise. Neal drew the attention of U.S. Sen. John Kerry, for whom the youth interned during the spring in Washington, D.C.

“Willie was such a spectacular young man with so much passion for the environment and he was already turning that energy into activism,” Kerry said in an e-mail Monday. “I was blown away reading about the contributions he’d already made, let alone thinking about what he could have done. It’s just sickening to think about this tragedy.”

While working as an intern for Kerry, Neal researched and worked on environmental projects.

At 18, Neal served as a Wyoming delegate to the Democratic National Convention and supported Barack Obama. He championed efforts to combat climate change, working on a Web site — cookies4climatechange.org — and advocating for people not to let their cars idle while parked.

He won eight individual state Nordic racing titles – every one he could win – during the four years he raced for Jackson Hole High School, and he competed at the highest national and international levels for his age.

Neal and his younger brother, Eliot, were training at the Maine Winter Sports Center with hopes of qualifying for the 2010 U.S. Junior World Championship biathlon team.

Willie Neal, a Jackson Hole Community School graduate, planned to enter Middlebury College in the fall.

Wilson residents Mary and William Neal are the parents of the Neal brothers.

Jackson Hole High School Nordic skiing coach Walt Berling went for a run with Neal just days before Neal left Jackson Hole for Maine.

“I told him he was going to be president some day,” Berling said. “Whatever he would have done, he would have been good at it.”