High school lacrosse star dies after boat crashes into jetty in Cape Cod
A 17-year-old star lacrosse player from Massachusetts died after a boat crashed into a jetty off the coast of Cape Cod Friday night, police said.
Authorities responded to a 911 call around 9 p.m. about a boat, with six people on board, that crashed into a jetty in Sesuit Harbor in Dennis and learned that a teenager was unaccounted for, the Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office said in a statement.
The teenager's body was recovered by Dennis Fire-Rescue personnel and the regional dive team, the district attorney's office said.
She was identified as rising high school senior Sadie Mauro by the Dover-Sherborn school district.
Dover-Sherborn High School Principal John Smith announced Mauro’s death in an email to the school community Sunday, describing her as an accomplished athlete.
“Our school community is devastated and heartbroken,” Smith wrote in his statement, according to NBC Boston. “Sadie’s smile could light up a room, she had a heart of gold and the sweetest spirit.”
“She had such a strong sense of self and had a love for adventure and anything outdoors,” he added. “A hardworking student and great athlete, Sadie was genuine and effortlessly kind.”
She was part of the Dover-Sherborn High School girls lacrosse team that won the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 4 state championship in June.
Mauro had committed to playing lacrosse at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, according to her LinkedIn page.
Dover-Sherborn Public Schools Superintendent Beth McCoy said in a statement to district families that Mauro died “in a boating accident.”
“Sadie’s parents, Jill and Chuck, reside in Sherborn with her younger brother, Ian, a rising ninth grader. The District extends its deepest sympathies to the Mauro family at this time of unimaginable pain,” the statement said.
"I will be hugging my children extra tight this evening — I am sure you will do the same," McCoy added.
Counseling will be available to high school students and faculty this week, the statement said.
Massachusetts State Police and the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office are investigating the cause of the crash that unfolded at the jetty by the channel leading to the Northside Marina in Sesuit Harbor.
In the crash, a teenage male was taken to Cape Cod Hospital with a head laceration, and several others were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, Massachusetts State Police said.
The vessel was described as a "regulator equipped with two outboard 250 horsepower engines with an Alabama registration," the district attorney’s office said.
The Massachusetts State Police Marine Unit, the MSP Underwater Recovery Unit and Massachusetts Environmental Police assets are conducting dive operations at the crash site Monday to search for debris from the boat.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
