Coral Shores senior Ella Marsden has signed her national letter of intent to be a member of the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious sailing team.
Marsden captained the Coral Shores Sailing Team while simultaneously sailing on the club regatta circuit from Florida to California and throughout the northeast. She’s been sailing since she was 8 years old.
She began competing as a member of the Upper Keys Sailing Club, and later trained at Coral Reef Yacht Club in Miami. Marsden and her sister, Emma, placed 2nd in SAISA’s Women’s Districts Regatta for CSHS. Most notably, Marsden sailed for the US National Team in Holland, England, Antigua and Italy.
“I’m so excited to join the Penn Sailing Team and continue my career with such talented sailors and an amazing coach,” Marsden said. “My time with Coral Shores athletics has been such a rewarding experience and is where I’ve had my most memorable moments in high school. I’m grateful to have had such a strong support system that helped me reach my goals throughout my four years at Coral Shores.”
University of Penn is nationally renowned for their sailing success. Sailing is a spring sport collegiately.
“We are thrilled to have Ella joining us as a Quaker next fall,” said Isaac Clark, University of Pennsylvania’s sailing team coach. “As a multiple varsity sport athlete, we cannot wait to work with her great talent, athleticism, and contagious positivity.”
The Quaker’s schedule includes stops at Annapolis (Navy), Washington, D.C. (Georgetown and George Washington), Boston (Harvard), Norfolk (Old Dominion), Providence (Brown), New Haven (Yale), and Ithaca (Cornell).
Marsden also captains the Canes varsity lacrosse team. She has been a starting attacker since 10th grade. Ella is ranked fourth academically among the 178 members of the class of 202. She possesses an unweighted grade point average of 3.947; her weighted GPA is 4.553.
“This is the culmination of Ella’s hard work both on the water and in the classroom. We are very proud of her accomplishments,” said Dominic Marsden, Ella’s father.
