Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND SPORTS track and field. From there, as they say, the rest was history. "The coaching bug bit me instantly and I said to myself, if I can do this all the time, that would really be great and I haven't really looked back since." Turner left Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill., to coach sprints, hurdles and sprint relays at Southern Illinois for five seasons. Suffice it to say, Turner never returned to portfolio management and does not plan to. "I'm a competitive guy, I like to win, I like my athletes to be successful and win," Turner said. "This is very re- warding for me. I really enjoy what I'm doing and I think I have a pretty good passion for it, too. That's why I can see myself doing this for quite some time. "I really like it here. Ever since the first day I was here I've been treated very, very well. I could see myself here a long time." And for that long time, Turner will need to coordinate ushers, security guards and announcers and then, if he finds the time, perhaps mold a few more ACC titlists. ✦ Irish Roundup VOLLEYBALL (0-2) Notre Dame started its second season representing the ACC by losing a pair of matches in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Aug. 29-30. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin topped the Irish 3-0. Notre Dame has nine more matches over the next three weeks to right the ship before conference play commences. MEN'S SOCCER (1-0-1) Notre Dame began its national title defense with a 2-1 win over No. 12 Marquette Aug. 29 behind goals from Connor Klekota and Leon Brown, before fighting to a scoreless draw against No. 9 Georgetown Aug. 31. That draw dropped the formerly top-ranked Irish to No. 5, though a daunting ACC slate will give Notre Dame plenty of chances to climb back up the rankings. WOMEN'S SOCCER (2-2) The Irish opened the season with two wins over two unranked foes, 3-1 at Illinois Aug. 22 and 3-0 versus Oakland Aug. 24, before dropping a tight 2-1 contest to No. 16 Texas Tech Aug. 29 and then falling to unranked USC by the same score Aug. 31. Notre Dame has a scant two weeks to recover from the uncharacteristic slow start before conference competition begins. MEN'S GOLF Notre Dame won the first of the two tournaments it will host in 2014-15, the Notre Dame Kickoff Challenge Aug. 31, by a comfortable 19 strokes. Senior Patrick Grahek led the way with a 36-hole 136 to tie for tournament medalist honors. — Douglas Farmer