Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10. Irish Homecoming Notre Dame's football players started their school year 3,600 miles from home in the biggest tourist invasion of Ireland for a single event in the country's history. The Irish opened up the 2013 football season on "native" soil, beating Navy 50-10 at Dublin's Aviva Stadium. The game in Ireland was Notre Dame's first since 1996, and its success left the door open to similar trips in the future. Players and fans both got a small glimpse at Irish culture prior to kickoff. The game itself, highlighted by junior Stephon Tuitt's 77yard fumble return, was the first sign of a special year to come for the Irish football team. ✦ Top Five Female Athletes 1. Skylar Diggins (Basketball) — Diggins sealed her legacy as one of the best ever in the women's game during her senior season. She passed Beth (Morgan) Cunningham as the program's all-time leading scorer with a 27-point performance in the Sweet 16 against Kansas. The two-time first-team All-America was picked third overall in the WNBA Draft. 2. Courtney Hurley (Fencing) — For the second time in three years, Hurley won the NCAA individual national title in epee, while helping Notre Dame to a secondplace finish in team competition (men's and women's). She had also won a bronze medal for the United States in team epee at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. 3. Emilee Koerner (Softball) — The sophomore outfielder was one of 10 finalists for the collegiate player of the year award this season. She finished the year among the top 20 in the nation in batting average (.439), doubles per game (0.36) and slugging percentage (.772). She led the way offensively during a 43-15 Senior point guard Skylar Diggins led Notre season for the Irish. 4. Emma Reaney (Swimming) — Reaney has set a Dame to its third consecutive Final Four and streak. career's worth of school records after two seasons at a school-record 30-game winning by joe raymond Photo Notre Dame. She finished in fifth at the NCAA Championships in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke races. Her time in the 200-meter heat was the ninth fastest in NCAA history. She's collected seven total All-America citations in two years. 5. Lindsey Weaver (Golf) — Just three months into her college career, Weaver was the No. 3-rated player in the nation according to Golfweek. The freshman had three top-three finishes in the fall and followed that by winning All-America honorable mention honors in the spring and tying classmate Talia Campbell for first place in the Big East Championships.