Karenna Groff was a former NCAA star and MIT soccer player who recently passed away following a tragic plane crash in Copake, find out more about her below
According to reports, the tragic plane crash also claimed the lives of both her parents as well as her boyfriend.
Who is Karenna Groff as ex-MIT soccer player dies in Copake, New York plane crash, bio, age, family, parents, boyfriend, college, high school and Instagram
Groff’s recent death has sent shockwaves through the MIT community and beyond, as the young student-athlete passed away.
Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player who was named the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year, was among six killed in a plane crash in upstate New York. The victims included Groff; her father, Dr. Michael Groff; her mother, Dr. Joy Saini; her brother, Jared Groff; Jared’s partner, Alexia Couyutas Duarte; and Karenna’s boyfriend, James Santoro and the flight also killed the assigned pilot of the plane, which was Dr. Groff’s private aircraft.
Groff was aboard a twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B aircraft, which crashed before Noon ET on Saturday in Copake, New York.
Karenna Groff passes away
Karenna Groff was a student-athlete who recently died in a tragic plane crash on Saturday in Copake, New York. She was on board a privately owned Mitsubishi MU-2B with her parents and her boyfriend during the time of the crash. Sadly, all of them passed away in the crash. The news has seemingly left her friends, colleagues, and mentors devastated.
The entire family was celebrating a birthday and the Passover holiday in the Catskills.
Michael Groff, Joy Saini, Jared Groff and Karenna Groff are survived by the couple’s daughter, Anika, who was admitted into Swarthmore’s Class of 2029.
Cause of death
According to official reports, the crash took place about 30 miles from their intended destination, i.e., Columbia County Airport in Hudson, New York. The group was en route to a family gathering and had planned to attend a birthday celebration afterwards. As of now, the exact cause of the crash remains under investigation. The crash reportedly instantly killed all seven passengers onboard.
Karenna Groff bio
Karenna was a popular student-athlete who was born and raised in Weston, Massachusetts. She was a two-time captain of the women’s soccer team and also earned All-American honors while leading the Engineers team across several conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances.
Away from the field, Karenna co-founded openPPE during the COVID-19 pandemic to support healthcare workers. She won the prestigious 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year title owing to her outstanding achievements. During the time of her death, she was on track to become a neurosurgeon like her father.
Age and height
Karenna Groff was just 24 years old at the time of her passing and stood at approximately 5’7”.
Family
Karenna was born to Dr. Michael Groff and Dr. Joy Saini. Dr. Michael Groff is a renowned neurosurgeon, while Dr. Joy Saini is a respected urogynecologist. She belongs to a very close-knit family who shares strong academic values and a deep commitment to service.
Karenna’s father, Dr. Michael Groff was a neurosurgeon and, the family statement noted, “an experienced pilot, who fell in love with flying after being taught by his father at the age of sixteen.”
A dedicated neurosurgeon, educator, and leader, Mike earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and completed his residency at Mount Sinai and following a spine fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin, he devoted his career to advancing spinal neurosurgery. He served as Division Chief of Neurosurgery Spine and Vice Chair of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital from 2011 to 2024 and was an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and in 2024, he became the Executive Medical Director of Neuroscience at Rochester Regional Health. He was in the process of completing his MBA at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
He served as Chair of the AANS/CNS Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves, led the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF) as Chair, and contributed to the JNS:Spine Editorial Board from 2016–2021, including as co-chair in 2021 and over his career, he authored more than 100 peer-reviewed.
Education
Karenna Groff graduated from Weston High School in 2018, following which she studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She later earned a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering in 2022 and then obtained a master’s in biomedical engineering. She was doing an MD program at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Groff co-founded openPPE, which helped create new mask designs for essential workers during COVID-19.
Her parents were both doctors, while her brother, Jared, worked as a paralegal and his partner, Alexia, was about to join Harvard Law School. While Michael and Joy were a neurosurgeon and a pelvis surgeon, respectively, Karenna was pursuing medicine at NYU Langone and the medical student was also a distinguished soccer player earlier while she studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Karenna was born in Weston, Massachusetts and her field of study at MIT was biological engineering.
Boyfriend
Karenna Groff was dating James Santoro, who was also an MIT graduate. Sadly, James was also among the victims in the recent crash.
Both Karenna and James earned their graduation from MIT, where the pair met for the first time and James used to play lacrosse for the institute. They shifted to Manhattan after earning their degrees from MIT and while Karenna got admitted to NYU Langone, James took up a job as an investment associate at a Greenwich-based hedge fund called Silver Point.
Santoro was from Tewksbury in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.
“He was most looking forward to proposing to his love, Karenna, this summer,” the family said in a statement.