Feb. 25—’Helvetica Neue’, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif13Two of Gloucester High School’s premier senior athletes have made the decision to take their talents to the next level.Mia Salah and Ella Marshall, both multi-sport All-Stars at GHS will be moving on to the collegiate level to play field hockey and softball respectively. Salah will be heading to Assumption College to play field hockey while Marshall will be playing softball at Fitchburg State.
Both athletes have been varsity mainstays since they came in as freshman and are now winding down highly successful careers.
Salah finished up her high school field hockey career as the program’s all time leading scorer with 124 points and all time leading goal scorer with 71. A three-time NEC All-Star and two-time All Conference selection, Salah was a threat to score anywhere in the circle and could create offense every time the ball was on her stick. Her combination of speed and stick skills were often too much for opposing defense, and she has one of the best shots in the NEC.
“She’s a force and has been since she came in as a freshman,” Gloucester head coach Lauren Riley Gove said during the fall field hockey season. “She’s one of the best players in program history and dominates every time she steps on the field.”
In the fall, Salah will be joining one of the best field hockey programs in the Northeastern 10 Conference. Assumption, a Division 2 program, finished 16-5 last fall and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
Even after having her junior season, the most important season for college prospects, wiped out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Marshall still had the resume to draw the attention of college programs.
She has been Gloucester’s starting shortstop since her freshman season and an All-Star performer as a sophomore in 2019, when the team turned in the best season for a girls sports team in the history of GHS, reaching the Division 2 State Finals.
Marshall can hit at the top and the middle of the order thanks to a blend of speed and power. She’s also a defensive standout with a big arm to go with her range at shortstop.
“Ella is just a complete player,” Gloucester head coach John Nicastro said of his shortstop. “Her defense is off the charts and she is a potent bat in the lineup who is always a threat to hit for extra bases.”
Marshall looks to once again be one of the team’s most consistent players when it finally returns to the diamond this spring after a year hiatus. Gloucester is still the defending Northeastern Conference, Division 2 North and Division 2 Eastern Mass. champions from 2019.
Fitchburg State is a consistent commodity in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC). The team finished 6-4 a year ago in a COVID-19 shortened season and is off to a 3-6 start in 2021.
While softball and field hockey are their sports of choice for the next level, both Marshall and Salah have been multi-sport standouts at GHS.
Marshall is also an All-Star midfielder in field hockey who covers a ton of ground and plays both ends of the field. She was also Gloucester basketball’s leading scorer and an All-Star point guard in 2020.
Salah, on the other hand, led the Gloucester girls hockey team in scoring in its first varsity season in well over a decade and plays on the lacrosse team.
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