Shaler junior Jessica Peluso killed in Friday crash in Cranberry. The T&F team has lost a leader.


Shaler junior Jessica Peluso killed in Friday crash in Cranberry.
The T&F team has lost a leader.
 

Most coaches would tell you that team leaders are rare.

The best of them can keep things light with jokes and pranks. The best of them make friends with ease. Even with those not on their own team. And the best of them also know when to get down to business, and can help others focus on what is important.

Shaler girls' T&F coach Dave Interthal says that on Friday night, Shaler and the Pennsylvania track & field community lost one of the best of them.

Jessica Christine Peluso (front row with Titans pants and holding up medal) was killed instantly in an auto accident while riding as a passenger in a car driven by her boyfrield, Charles Stunkard, who attended Seneca Valley High School. Both were 17 years old. Their car crossed the center line and struck a Hummer head-on. The accident is still under investigation.

Interthal will remember those leadership qualities that he says distinguished Jessica.

Her funny side was usually on display outside of competition.

Interthal remembers more than one occasion when he would give his girls a workout, and a few eyes would roll. And as the group would jog away, he'd hear laughter. "That was probably her saying something."

At WPIAL's in May, Interthal says Jessica put a dollar bill on the end of some fishing line, and would pull it in when someone would reach for it. The joke was simply a way to meet more people. And that, he says was a trait she would never turn off. "We'd be cleaning up at an indoor meet and getting ready to leave, and then have to look around for Jessy. We'd find her sitting with another team, just talking. She knew kids on every team we competed against."

But when it came to competition, Jessica was all business according to her coach. "She was the enforcer. She'd get them ready to roll, and when she raced, she would not back down from anybody."

That intensity and her competitive nature led her to attend a summer camp on jumps at North Allegheny to try to improve her performances this coming indoor.

Jessy's PR's: 16'10" long jump at a dual meet with Butler last spring; 12.85 100 meter dash at a JV meet at Seneca Valley her freshman year; and ran on Shaler's 49.7 4x100 at the 2008 Butler Invitational.

Jessica Peluso is survived by her parents and a brother and sister. Memorials may be made to Teen Advocate Program, in memory of Jessica Peluso, in care of Shaler Area School District.

Interthal says that the Track program will be giving out a new award this year to be known as the "Jessica Peluso Award." The winner, according to Interthal, will reflect the unique qualities that Jessica embodied – "work hard and have a great deal of personality."
 


NOTE: Those who wish to share their thoughts or stories on Jessy Peluso may either post below, or email don@penntrackxc.com




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