Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/259072
UNDER THE DOME Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Stephen O'Hara — Lacrosse The senior is Notre Dame's sole player to land a spot on Inside Lacrosse's preseason All-America first team. O'Hara will anchor the Irish defense this season after playing in 32 consecutive games during the last two seasons. He was a second-team All-Big East pick at the end of the 2013 campaign. Teammates Jim Marlatt, Matt Kavanagh and Matt Landis earned second-team, third-team and honorable mention spots, respectively. Alexa Aragon — Track & Field One of Notre Dame's repeat All-America performers hit her stride in February, winning the 3,000-meter race at the New Mexico In- vitational Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at Albuquerque, N.M. The senior finished with a time of 9:46.08. Aragon's younger sister, Danielle, won the 800-meter race earlier in the day. They are one of two pairs of sisters on the Irish roster in contention for All-ACC track honors this year. Juniors Kaila and Jade Barber, who are twins, finished second and third in the 60-meter hurdles in New Mexico. Kayla McBride — Basketball The Irish sharpshooter averaged 20.3 points and 5.3 rebounds during the final week of January — a stretch where she helped No. 2 Notre Dame take down two top-10 teams on the road. She had her fourth career double-double against No. 3 Duke to end the week, which earned her recognition as espnW's National Player of the Week. She also became the first member of her team to win ACC Player of the Week honors. Shane McKenzie — Swimming The sophomore was one of several underclassmen to post win- ning times at the Shamrock Invitational meet to start the month of February. McKenzie won the 400-meter individual medley in 3:55.52, fast enough to make the 'B' cut for NCAA Championships qualifying and set a personal best. He was a YMCA and Scholastic All-American in high school and was also a Big East Academic All-Star in his first collegiate season last year. TOP OF THE CLASS