Northport Grad dies In Car Crash

Julia Sarcona, center, with her sister Nina, left, and father Joe, right, on senior day for the Northport girls lacrosse team. Facebook photo/Carol Rainson-Rose

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

 Julia Sarcona, a recent Northport High School graduate, was a free spirit, member of the University of Colorado women’s lacrosse team and known for her ability to bring people to tears via her comedic personality.

Kelsie Garrison, a lacrosse teammate, said Sarcona “always did the things you never thought anyone would do.”

“How she would make me laugh is with her actions; she does the weirdest things with her face and the weirdest things with her arms,” said Garrison, 21, of Westlake Village, California. “That’s the best part of going through her memories, seeing all these videos of Julia doing the most absurd things.

“She was always working to give someone a smile or a good laugh.”

Sadly, Sarcona was killed in a car crash in Boulder County on Saturday, Colorado state police said. She was 21.

The crash occurred at around 9 a.m., when Sarcona’s 2017 Subaru, traveling northbound on Colorado Highway 119, veered off the roadway and hit a tree, according to Colorado State Trooper Josh Lewis.

Back home, family and friends of Sarcona held a candlelight vigil Monday night at Northport Harbor.

On the lacrosse field, Sarcona was an attacker. The 2014 Northport grad played on the school’s varsity lacrosse team for five years, beginning as an eighth grader. As a freshman in 2011, she helped the Tigers win the state Class A championship.

She also played both basketball and volleyball for the Northport Tigers.

Her former lacrosse coach, Carol Rose, called Sarcona an amazing person and teammate, and a lover of life. Rose’s fondest memories are of Sarcona dancing and laughing with her Tiger teammates.

Rose continued, “Her love for the game and infectious smile brought joy to everyone around her. Her impact on all her friends, teammates and coaches will always be treasured and never forgotten.”

After graduation, Sarcona headed for Colorado on a lacrosse scholarship and to study public relations. She was in her senior year at the university.

Ann Elliot, head coach of the Buffaloes, similarly called Sarcona an incredible teammate, but added that the young athlete was also a leader in her role and brought both energy and laughter to the team each day.

“She’s so smart as a lacrosse player on the field, such a smart attacker with a lot of skill,” Elliot said. “We were just blessed to have her on our team.”

When she wasn’t working towards her bachelor’s degree or playing lacrosse, Sarcona was typically found taking early morning hikes on the Chautauqua Trailhead in the Flatirons Mountains of Boulder.

Joe, her father, spoke to his daughter’s love of the outdoors in an interview Wednesday. The fatal crash occurred as she was coming back from an early morning hike, he said.

He also spoke about his daughter’s fondness for music and shopping, and how she loved her family and friends immensely.

“Julia is a light and a sunshine with a personality that was way beyond her years,” said Joe, who currently lives in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. “She made everybody around her laugh. She was infectiously funny and grounded.”

Garrison, who along with being a teammate of Sarcona’s was also her neighbor, said the pair was very close this past summer, when she took classes and Sarcona worked in the university’s sports information department.

To help the summer days go by, the duo got a dog together, a black retriever named Forrest.

“We spent a lot of the summer trying to train him, which we didn’t do very successfully,” Garrison said with a laugh. “We took him on hikes, sat in hammocks and went to different reservoirs in the creek, spending time outside with this little puppy we loved to share.”

Carly Cox, another of Sarcona’s teammates, said the pair would often share funny stories, or make each other laugh by quoting comedies like “Parks and Recreation” and “Wedding Crashers.”

Cox, 22, who hails from Bay Shore, said the two were originally high school lacrosse rivals. But, when Cox was a junior, she joined Sarcona’s travel team, the Long Island Yellow Jackets, and they quickly became friends. That friendship continued on the field in college, and off as they were roommates for two years.

Cox said, “She was a really hard worker on and off the field.”

“Julia wasn’t the most graceful, but she always got things done,” Cox added with a laugh. “She was free spirited and she came out with a smile on her face every day.”

In addition to her father, Sarcona is survived by mother Alessandra; and siblings Nina and Matthew.

Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 18, 10:30 a.m. at St. John Neumann in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.