BLOOMFIELD, NJ – Anatalia Pena, a 2018 Bloomfield High School graduate who excelled in soccer and track and field, was tragically killed on Aug. 25.
Pena was involved in a two-car accident in Miami, Fla., where she was getting ready to return to Barry University for her sophomore year. Barry University is located in Miami Shores, Fla.
A co-captain, Pena was a dominant player for the BHS girls soccer team, earning first-team honors on the All-Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division in her senior year in the fall 2017. Pena was the most prolific scorer in the recent history of the BHS girls soccer program. She amassed 42 goals and 17 assists in her career.
Her death devastated BHS head coach Jon Aliaga and his team as they are getting ready for the upcoming season.
Though she graduated more than a year ago, Aliaga mentioned that the upperclassmen on the team knew Pena. He said the team planned a meeting on Monday, Aug. 25, instead of holding practice, to remember Pena.
Aliaga reflected on Pena as a player on the field and a person who loved life.
“She was a bold and fearless player, winning the admiration of both her peers and her opponents,” Aliaga said in a statement to the Independent Press. “Her speed and strength allowed her to dominate and take over in games. She even tethered with the line of being injured and or hurt way too often.
“But what was most important was the size of her heart that won over her teammates, classmates, coaches and teachers. Anatalia always carried a smile on her face. Her laugh was infectious and made others instantly have a better day. I truly presume that everyone that was blessed to have crossed her path could share many more touching, heartfelt stories.
“She was genuine, humble and authentic,” Aliaga continued. “As a program, she made us into a better team. Most importantly as a person, she made us into a better family. She carried so much joy that it poured out onto the rest of us, and even though her life was cut short, she taught us so abundantly about living life with a purpose and so much love.”
Pena was a recipient of the Christina Lembo Memorial Scholarship award. Lembo was a BHS girls soccer player who was killed in a two-car accident on Broughton Avenue in September 2012 when she was a junior.
In track and field, Pena competed in the pole vault event in which she finished fourth at the conference meet and ninth in the county meet in the spring season of her senior year.
“The entire Bengal athletic family was devastated to learn of her passing,” said BHS athletic director Steve Jenkins in a statement to the Independent Press. “Anatalia represented everything positive we strive for in our athletes — an outstanding student, a great teammate and a remarkably gifted player.”
A GoFundMe account has been established for the Pena family for funeral expenses and monetary support.
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