The women's lacrosse team coach who was killed in a bus crash on the Pennsylvania turnpike on Saturday was a Baltimore native.
Kristina Quigley, 30, was one of two people who died in the accident after a tour bus carrying the Seton Hill Women's lacrosse team to a game went off the Turnpike in Cumberland County and crashed into a tree. The driver of the bus, Anthony Gueaetta, 61, was also killed in the accident. Quigley, along with two injured passengers were flown by helicopter to Penn State Hershey Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Danielle Ran said. Quigley later died from her injuries.
Quigley was the coach of the team and was six months pregnant. Her unborn baby boy did not survive. Officials said all other passengers were taken to hospitals as a precaution. Four of the players on the team are from Maryland, according to the team website.
Quigley is survived by her husband, Glenn Quigley and her son, Gavin. According to the University, Quigley had just begun her second season with the Seton Hill women's lacrosse team after leading them to 11 victories in her first season. Quigley, a Baltimore, Maryland native, came to Seton Hill most recently from Erskine College in Due West, S.C., where she started the NCAA Division II program. Prior to that post, Quigley worked as the assistant lacrosse coach at Duquesne University, her alma mater.
The bus, which was carrying 23 players and three coaches, came to a stop upright on the side of the road with part of its left side shorn off, photos from the scene showed, though it's unclear whether that was from the impact or rescue operation.
The bus operator, Mlaker Charter & Tours, of Davidsville, Pa., sent investigators to the scene, company dispatcher Kelly Hay said. The company had no information yet from the investigators and could not comment, she said.
The company is up to date on its inspections, which include bus and driver safety checks, said Jennifer Kocher, a spokeswoman for the state Public Utility Commission, which regulates bus companies.
The agency's motor safety inspectors could think of no accidents or violations involving the company that would raise a red flag, she said, though complete safety records were not available Saturday
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State environmental officials were also sent to the scene because of a diesel fuel spill from the bus.
Seton Hill is a Catholic school of about 2,500 students near Pittsburgh. The team was to play Saturday afternoon at Millersville University, about 50 miles from the crash site in central Pennsylvania.
The school will offer a memorial Mass for Quigley and pray for Gueaetta along with everyone who was injured in the accident. The Mass will take place on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Saint Joseph Chapel on the University's campus.
Seton Hill says it used texts, emails, and phone calls to notify students about the crash. School officials say counseling service will be provided for students and teachers. Students can call the Office of Student Life (724-838-4242 ), Campus Ministry and the University's Director of Campus Ministry (724-830-1075 ), the Counseling Center (724-838-4295 ) and the Seton Hill Center for Family Therapy (724-552-0339 ).
Last month, a bus carrying 42 high school students from the Philadelphia area and their chaperones slammed into an overpass in Boston, injuring 35. Authorities said the driver had directed the bus onto a road with a height limit.
