By Raquel Edmundson - Monsignor Edward Pace HS
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Msgr. Edward Pace High senior Grace Li, who led the girls soccer team with 48 saves her freshman year, has signed an athletic contract to play for Loyola University Maryland women’s soccer team
Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO
Msgr. Edward Pace High senior Grace Li poses with her father, Pace alumnus and now faculty member Phillip Li, and her mother, Alice Li.
MIAMI GARDENS | At Msgr. Edward Pace High School, the name Grace Li is synonymous with trail blazer.
That's because the well-rounded Pace senior and Miami Lakes resident has worked tirelessly throughout her life to achieve success in both academics and athletics.
As a freshman in 2014, led the girls soccer team with 48 saves, helping them reach the district playoffs. She continued to share her talents sophomore year playing all positions while becaming an active member of Boca Raton’s Boca United FC team. Grace continues to be a member of Boca’s club team and is currently their senior captain.
Among her other athletic achievements are being part of the 2013 & 2014 Olympic Development Program pool, a 2015 Disney Showcase Finalist and earning three consecutive clean sheets in the 2016 ENCL (Elite Clubs National League) Phoenix National Showcase.
Grace also excels at academics. She holds a 5.5 GPA and has maintained her position on the Principal's Honor Roll since freshman year. She achieved a perfect math SAT score of 800, is the senior class president, an AP scholar, president of the Future Business Leaders of America Club, a National Honor Society member and also a member of the English, math and science National Honor societies.
Grace follows a proud Spartan legacy as her father, Phillip Li, is a class of 1982 alumnus. An engineer by trade, he has been a member of Pace’s faculty for more than a decade. Grace’s aunt Maria is a 1981 alumnus and brother Braden graduated from Pace in 2012. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and is currently pursuing his PhD in material science and engineering at North Carolina State in Raleigh.
Last week, Pace’s administration building was decked out in green and black, Loyola University Maryland’s school colors. Surrounded by family members, friends and fellow Spartans, Grace signed her athletic contract to play for the university’s women’s soccer team. She also received Loyola’s Presidential Merit Scholarship, which is granted to incoming freshman students based on superior academic ability and achievement.
Grace plans to continue to balance her academics and athletics in Loyola while pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering.
During the signing ceremony, Pace’s Dean of Faculty, Lilian Dubon, commended Grace for not only being a “stellar athlete,” but also for being in the top 1 percent of her class. She offered a prayer that through her continued “force, dedication and passion for success,” Grace will be driven to continue “breaking barriers” in all of her future endeavors.
