HIGHLAND VILLAGE, Texas — Updated at 7:30 p.m. with additional information about victims.
Two sisters drowned Sunday night while celebrating a birthday out on Lake Lewisville, officials with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the women as Teegan Joicara Hill, 31, of Lancaster, and Troinee Demonika Broom, 28, of Dallas.
Hill and Broom were thrown from a boat around 8 p.m. near Pilot Knoll Park in Highland Village. Neither was wearing a life jacket, officials said, and they never re-surfaced.
Crews were able to recover their bodies hours later around 12:30 a.m. Monday.
Game Wardens, Lewisville Fire, troopers, Highland Village police, and US Army Corps of Engineers Rangers responded to the scene Sunday are still investigating to determine exactly what happened.
Hill was an attorney at the Bassett Law Firm and a former track star for Lancaster High School.
In 2008, Hill and three others won state in the 4x400 meter relay for Texas Class 4A.
She also helped lead the Lady Tigers to an eighth consecutive Texas Class 4A state championship overall by finishing second in the 400-meter run.
Hill later went on to compete for Vanderbilt University.
Billy Clark, an attorney in North Texas, knew Hill well.
He told WFAA on Monday that Hill was generous, gave back to her community, and was heavily involved in several African-American legal associations.
"She was such a loved person, and a good attorney," Clark said. "Little girls growing up saw her as a person who they could be like. That was Teegan."
Broom also competed in the high jump and triple jump for Lancaster before pursuing a career in teaching.
Both women appeared passionate and driven per Clark. The worst part about their deaths to him is that they were celebrating Hill's birthday the night they drowned.
"It's just such a sudden thing that's just hard to deal with," Clark said. "Something that I know a lot of people are trying to deal with and cope with."
WFAA reporter Matt Howerton contributed to this report.