WINTHROP — The community is reeling after the sudden death of 17-year-old Kelsey Stoneton.

The Winthrop High School junior, a standout field hockey player and the daughter of Joel Stoneton, the high school and middle school’s athletic director and dean of students, died early Saturday at Maine Medical Center in Portland after collapsing Friday because of a pulmonary embolism, her mother, Kimberly, wrote on Facebook.

Kelsey “had everything going for her,” Joel Stoneton said in a Saturday interview.

“She was a pretty girl, was top-five in her class and was captain of the field hockey team,” he said. “She meant everything to us.”

Kelsey is survived by her parents and a younger sister, Haley. The family didn’t take visitors on Saturday, asking for notes of remembrance to be left outside Joel Stoneton’s home at 96 Green St. in Winthrop.

Coaches of the football team Joel Stoneton coached until recently opened the locker room at Winthrop High School on Saturday for those who were looking to be with friends and relatives.

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In a text message, Jarod Richmond, an assistant coach, said the staff and players declined interviews “other than to say we are deeply saddened” at Kelsey’s death and “our thoughts and prayers are with the Stoneton family.”

Condolences poured in on social media after Kelsey’s death, with one person calling her “one of the most beautiful people I’ve met” and another telling Joel Stoneton “your community is here to support you through this impossibly difficult time.”

“She was always smiling, always smiling, and she brought that to our family,” Joel Stoneton said of Kelsey. “I’m not just saying that because she was my daughter, too. She was such a happy girl, a joy to be around all the time.

“She’s going to be missed.”

Sports Editor Bill Stewart contributed to this report.

Michael Shepherd — 370-7652

mshepherd@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @mikeshepherdme


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