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About an hour ago
Two local high school graduates were mourned by friends, classmates and their families after being killed on a lightning Thursday in Mammoth Park, Mt. Nice Canton.
Brendan A. McGowan, from Eastview Drive, North Huntingdon, and Kaitlyn E. Rosensteel, of Chestnut Street, Donora, both 18, were declared dead at the scene about an hour after the strike began. shortly before 4 pm
McGowan, who played baseball at Central Greensburg Central High School, was due to attend the University of Pittsburgh this fall, and Rosensteel, who played football at Ringgold High School, recently signed with the football team. West Virginia Wesleyan College.
"She was just a wonderful girl," said Rob Fabean, director of the club's administration for Beadling Football Club. "She was a role model for the teams I trained, it's never been a problem, never caused problems, compatible with everyone, appreciated by everyone."
Fabean has led Rosensteel for most of his life, he said, but the most recent is for the Bridgeville-based club. He added that one of his favorite things to do was to try new unique restaurants with his family. They would always try a new pizzeria when the family went to different states for football.
"My heart sank," Fabean said, remembering when he heard the news. "To discover that someone is away from something as tragic as a thunderbolt, I can not even understand."
Fabean said that a memorial will be scheduled in the future, but that specific details have not yet been planned.
Ringgold District School Superintendent Megan Van Fossan said social workers and school counselors would be available Friday and Monday at Ringgold High School.
"Our deepest sympathy goes to his family and friends," he said.
McGowan graduated from Greensburg Central Catholic on May 29, said director Benjamin Althof.
"Brendan was a member of the National Honor Society and has won numerous scholarships and awards," said Althof. "He was also the second baseball player on our baseball team. Through all his awards, his activities and his honors, he was really a good person. He behaved with quiet confidence. "
Althof described McGowan as a calm, reserved, respected and appreciated person.
Psychological assistance and a prayer service are provided for the students of the school.
According to the Westmoreland County Coroner, Kenneth A. Bacha, witnesses heard a sharp crack and saw a large beam of light in the area where they were going fishing.
The two men were near the spillway on the park's lake when they were hit, said county public works director Greg McCloskey. The strike occurred on a peninsula that advances into the 24-acre lake.
Bacha said that witnesses found the man and woman under a large, broken tree. He added that both men suffered injuries consistent with lightning.
The causes and modalities of death were pending an autopsy from Dr. Cyril H. Wecht and Pathology Associates.
Ambulances of Mt. Pleasant and Kecksburg were sent to the 408-acre park, along Route 982 near Kecksburg.
The storm that ran through Westmoreland County at the time was "not terribly intense, but it still produced lightning," said Matthew Kramer, Meteorologist at the National Weather Office Service at Moon Township. The storms in the area ended in the middle of the evening, he said, adding: "A large area of showers and cooler air will cross the night."
Megan Tomasic is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Megan at 724-850-1203, [email protected] or via Twitter .
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