Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JUNE/JULY 2019 49 ND SPORTS women's cross country, with Anna Rohrer and Jessica Harris earning All- America notice in the national meet. • 61.5 points for a No. 14 place- ment in men's cross country, which also captured the ACC championship under head coach Matt Sparks. Notre Dame did not score in vol- leyball and women's soccer, and does not have other fall sports included such as field hockey or men's water polo, where USC earned 100 points for a national title while Stanford re- ceived 90 as the runner-up. Each school can count its top-scor- ing 19 sports toward the final point total, but four of the sports have to be baseball, men's and women's bas- ketball, and volleyball. The competi- tion began in 1994, and the Stanford Cardinal has captured the Cup every school year since 1995. Naturally, Stanford is easily at the top of the pack again with 1,158.75 points, while Big Ten schools Michi- gan, Penn State, Wisconsin and Minnesota are the next four. Notre Dame's 622.00 was the best in the 15-team ACC, one point ahead of Virginia (621.00), which won its first ever men's basketball championship. This year's fall's results for Notre Dame easily exceeded last year 's when it placed 20th with 205 points. However, thanks to national titles in fencing and women's basketball, plus a trip to the championship game in hockey's Frozen Four, the Fighting Irish vaulted all the way up to No. 6 at the end of the winter competition. A ho-hum spring resulted in a tie for a final No. 22 ranking among 291 schools that scored points. Notre Dame had a school-record three consecutive top-10 placements in 2013 (No. 9), 2014 (No. 3, the school's best showing ever) and 2015 (No. 10). ✦ BASEBALL (22-26 OVERALL, 12-15 ACC) Notre Dame notched a 9-5 record from April 16-May 12, highlighted by taking two of three from then-No. 14 North Carolina State April 26-28. The Fighting Irish wrapped up their regular-season home schedule with a three-game sweep of Canisius May 10-12. The Irish closed out the regular season with a single contest at Northwestern May 14 and a three-game set at Boston College May 16-18. The ACC Tournament began play May 21 in Durham, N.C. MEN'S GOLF The Fighting Irish finished 11th out of 12 teams at the ACC Championships April 18-20 in New London, N.C. The team did not receive an invite to an NCAA Regional, but senior Miguel Delgado became the first Irish golfer to qualify for one in five years. He was one of 10 individual golfers selected to compete in the NCAA Louisville Re- gional May 13-15. Delgado entered postseason play with a team-best 71.4 stroke average, which ranked as the second lowest in pro- gram history. He posted four top-10 finishes and led the Irish in six of their 11 tournaments during the 2019 season. WOMEN'S GOLF Notre Dame placed 11th out of 12 teams at the ACC Championships April 18- 20 in Greensboro, N.C., and like the men did not earn an NCAA Regional berth. However, senior Emma Albrecht qualified as an individual — her fourth bid in four years — for the NCAA East Lansing Regional May 6-8. The program has now either made an NCAA Regional as a team or sent an individual in each of the past 13 seasons. Albrecht completed her decorated Irish career by tying for 56th place. MEN'S LACROSSE (9-6 OVERALL, 2-2 ACC) The No. 8 Fighting Irish capped the regular season with a 12-10 home victory versus North Carolina April 20, and then knocked off No. 2 Duke 12-10 in the semifinals of the ACC Championship April 27 in Chapel Hill, N.C. After a 10-4 loss to Virginia in the ACC title game May 4 in Charlottesville, Va., Notre Dame received the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament and posted a 16-9 win over Johns Hopkins in the opening round May 12 in South Bend. Notre Dame was set to face No. 2-seeded Duke in the quarterfinals May 18 at Hempstead, N.Y. The Irish and Blue Devils split their first two matchups of the season, with Duke winning 14-8 April 6 in Durham, N.C., before Notre Dame took the teams' showdown in the ACC semifinals. WOMEN'S LACROSSE (14-5 OVERALL, 5-2 ACC) No. 8 Notre Dame fell 15-11 to No. 4 Northwestern its final regular-season contest April 20, and then was edged 14-13 by No. 15 Duke in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship April 24 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The Irish earned an NCAA Tournament bid and defeated Stanford 15-9 in the first round May 10 in Evanston, Ill. Their season came to end, though, in the next round with a 13-10 loss at Northwestern May 12. SOFTBALL (36-16 OVERALL, 18-6 ACC) Notre Dame won nine of its last 10 contests, with three- game sweeps at Virginia April 20, at Pittsburgh April 27- 29 and versus Georgia Tech May 3-5. The Fighting Irish earned the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament at Tallahas- see, Fla., and opened with a 9-2 victory versus Duke in the quarterfinals May 9 before falling 2-0 to Florida State in the semifinals May 10. The Fighting Irish earned the program's 21st consecutive NCAA Championship bid and were placed in the Oklahoma Regional May 17-19 in Norman, Okla. The No. 2-seeded Irish open with No. 3-seeded Wisconsin, with the No. 1-seeded Sooners — who are the top overall seed in the entire tournament — squaring off with No. 4-seeded UMBC in the double elimination bracket. TRACK AND FIELD The Fighting Irish men notched a ninth-place team finish at the ACC Champi- onships May 9-11 in Charlottesville, Va. Sophomore Yared Nuguse took home the lone event title for the Irish in the 1,500 meters, finishing first with a time of 3:41.34. Sophomore Andrew Alexander also earned All-ACC honors with a third- place effort in the 5,000 meters. On the women's side, Notre Dame posted a seventh-place team showing. Fifth-year senior Jessica Harris, senior Rachel DaDamio and freshman Jacqueline Gaughan all earned All-ACC accolades in the 5,000 meters. DaDamio led the way with a second-place effort in a time of 16:07.37. — David McKinney Irish Roundup Through May 14 Senior attack Brandon Gleason and the men's lacrosse squad earned the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament and defeated Johns Hopkins 16-9 in the first round May 12. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA