Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/114977
Under the Dome Top of The Class Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Martin Grady ��� Jr., Cross Country Notre Dame���s top finisher (ninth overall) at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional this fall was recognized for his achievement in the classroom in early March. Grady, an accounting major, was one of 67 male runners chosen for the U.S. All-Academic team for track & field and cross country this year. Four runners from the Irish cross country team also made the cut on the women���s side ��� Kelly Curran, Hannah Eckstein, Molly Seidel and Rebecca Tracy. Jaime Malandra ��� Sr., Women���s Swimming The senior from Allentown, Pa., anchored a record-setting 800-meter freestyle relay team for Notre Dame at the Big East Championships Feb.��28. Malandra and her teammates (Emma Reaney, Kelly Ryan and Suzanne Bessire) won first place in the event and qualified for the NCAA Championships with a time of 7:10.84. The long-distance specialist also competed in the 500-meter freestyle race and finished 16th overall in the conference. Kayla McBride ��� Jr., Women���s Basketball The Big East���s leader in assists per game joins Irish star Skylar Diggins as one of 30 players on the watch list for the Naismith National Player of the Year award. McBride averaged 14.6 points and 6.0 assists per game through the end of February. She also hit 91.5 percent of her free throws. The junior guard ranked in the top 10 of six different statistical categories in the Big East this season. John Hallsten ��� Fr., Men���s Fencing The rookie clinched Notre Dame���s first gold medal of the 2013 Midwest Fencing Conference Championships March��3. Hallsten won an individual silver by beating Ohio State��� Andrew McDonald 5-0 in the men���s sabre competition. Notre Dame���s team won that event and three others on their way to reclaiming a conference title from the Buckeyes. The men���s and women���s foil squads, as well as the women���s epee team, also won their events at the conference meet.