Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/276022
UNDER THE DOME Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom Jewell Loyd — Basketball The former McDonald's All-American is one of two under- classmen that made the 10-woman All-ACC first team this season. Loyd, a sophomore guard, led the Irish in scoring with an average of 18.4 points per game. She was the National Freshman of the Year last season, the National Player of the Week Feb. 24 and the ACC Tournament MVP after scoring 26 points in the 69-53 win over No. 10 Duke March 9. Chris Giesting — Track & Field Notre Dame's fastest man on campus won the ACC's Most Valuable Player award after winning the 400-meter dash at the conference championship meet in late February. Giesting also placed second in the 200-meter dash. His big day helped the Irish finish third overall in the conference and crack the top 10 in the national track and field rankings. The Hoosier state native earned first-team All-America honors in the 400 last February. Cortney Fortunato — Lacrosse High expectations didn't keep the Northrop, N.Y., native from making a good first impression with the Irish. She won the WomensLax.com National Rookie of the Year in the last week of February after scoring four goals in an 8-7 win over No. 12 Stony Brook. She leads the team in goals (14) and points (18) after five games. She was the MVP of the Under Armour Senior All-American game last year and the nation's No. 1 overall prospect. Zach Stephens — Swimming The junior won first place in the 100- and 200-yard breast- stroke races during Notre Dame's first ACC Championships meet in late February. Stephens, an All-American in the event last year, set meet records at both distances. He is a former Big East Academic All-Star and won the Irish team MVP award last season after to finish in the top 16 at last April's NCAA meet. He'll have a shot to repeat during the final weekend of March. TOP OF THE CLASS