Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1271864
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com AUGUST 2020 49 breathing room in collegiate athletics' never-ending expansion and upgrade of facilities. Since 1987, Notre Dame has held its indoor practices for both the spring and fall at Meyo Field inside the Loftus Sports Center, which then expanded into the Guglielmino Ath- letics Complex in 2005 to house all the football offices, sports medicine, etc. However, in those last 32 years the Fighting Irish athletic department has expanded sig- nificantly, and practice time in- side the facility often had to be split from the crack of dawn to the late evening hours among football, men's soccer, women's soccer, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, baseball and softball — plus intramural activities on occasion. 'C'MON MAN!' One of the more amenable coaches in the business who prides himself as "the loosest coach in America," Notre Dame's men's basketball leader Mike Brey uncharacteristically lashed out at the ACC and specifically game official John Gaffney following an 85-84 loss at Florida State Jan. 25 that dropped the Irish to 2-6 in the ACC. Several questionable, if not down- right dubious, calls went against Notre Dame on the road. "We're treated by the officials like we haven't brought football as a full member [to the conference], but yet we get a full share of the ACC Net- work TV — are you kidding me?" Brey said, a reference to Notre Dame's independence in football. Raising his voice and anima- tedly waving his hands, Brey then abruptly left the meeting with the media while stating: "You've got to be kidding me, man. Come on, man! We're in the league, too!" The league fined Brey $20,000 for the outburst, but the Irish responded with an 8-4 flourish to finish the season plus a first- round ACC Tournament rout of Boston College — before the pandemic canceled the season. The Irish were still long shots to make the NCAA Tourna- ment for the first time in three years, so returning in 2021 is pivotal. ✦ 2019-20 Female Athletes of the Year 1. Kara Linder — For the second year in a row, the sophomore was named the ACC Fencer of the Year for Women's Sabre and produced the best record on the team at 52-19. Her success in 2019-20 qualified her for the NCAA Tournament, where she earned eighth place in 2019. 2. Zoe Nunez — The sophomore setter was a first-team All- ACC volleyball selection after leading Notre Dame in assists with 1,219 while hitting the 50-set mark in eight matches. The rest of the team recorded a total of 178 assists combined. Nunez also recorded 24 service aces, 59 blocks and 51 kills. After the season, she was one of 28 play- ers invited to the participate on the U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team Gold roster over the summer while Team USA prepared for the Tokyo Olympic Games, which have since been post- poned until 2021. 3. Rachel Tanczos — She took home a silver medal at the ACC Indoor Championship in the wom- en's weight throw, hitting 22.39 meters, but this was far from the best performance in her junior year. At the Alex Wilson Invitational, she hit the mark of 23.31 meters — the best toss of the season nationally and 11th best all time in NCAA indoor history. Her success earned her ACC Field Performer of the Week honors four times in a shortened year, and she was also dubbed the 2020 USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Women's Field Athlete of the Year. Additionally, Tanczos was named to the 2020 Women's All-ACC Academic Team. 4. Miriam Grady — The sophomore was named a back-to-back ACC Fencer of the Year for Women's Epee and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Overall, she finished the season with a 52-25 record. On her way to an ACC title, the No. 3-seeded Grady knocked off both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. 5. Bridget Deehan — The junior lacrosse goalie an- chored the 7-0 and No. 2-ranked Fighting Irish defense that allowed just 7.29 goals per game (which ranked second nationally). She also ranked No. 5 in the country with a .547 save percentage and was recognized as the ACC Defensive Player of the Week after Notre Dame beat No. 3 Northwestern on the road. — Andrew Mentock Sophomore Kara Linder was named the ACC Fencer of the Year for Women's Sabre and produced the best record on the team at 52-19. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH MEDIA The sparkling new 111,400-square-foot Irish Athletics Center opened in August, providing the football program with an upgraded practice facility. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER