N.J. teen dies during soccer team sleepover
A 14-year-old New Jersey girl died Saturday morning at a sleepover with her high school soccer team, her coach said.
A 14-year-old New Jersey girl died Saturday morning at a sleepover with her high school soccer team, her coach said.
Kara Lemanowicz, a freshman at Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees Township, was spending the night in a tent in a yard on the 200 block of Barnsboro Road in Sewell, authorities said. When friends tried to wake her, she was unresponsive.
Paramedics were called, but the girl was pronounced dead.
Jamie McGroarty, the soccer coach at Eastern, said the team was taking comfort from being together Saturday.
"Individually they are, and especially the ones who were close to her, are very upset," McGroarty said. "Being around their friends right now is very beneficial."
A vigil was held Saturday night at Giangiulio Field in Voorhees.
McGroarty said he and his wife had coached Kara since she was about 6 years old.
"She was just, for lack of a better word, a goofball. Fun-loving, always laughing, always smiling," he said.
She also played basketball and lacrosse.
School starts Tuesday, and the team's first games will follow soon after.
"I have a feeling, I think the girls will want to play because she would want them to play," McGroarty said. "We'll have to see how it goes and how they're doing."
Other schools in the conference were tweeting condolences and messages of support.
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