Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/705594
Top Five Female Athletes 1. Molly Seidel (Cross Country/Track) — A repeat winner from last season, the ACC's Women Athlete of the Year had four com- bined national championship victories — 2015 NCAA outdoor 10,000 meters, 2015 NCAA cross country 6K, 2016 NCAA indoor 3,000 meters and 2016 NCAA indoor 5,000 meters — a Notre Dame record in any sport during one calendar year. Seidel claimed six com- bined All-America citations (two in cross coun- try and four in track) during her Irish career. She became the first Notre Dame female to capture the NCAA cross country champion- ship — and first overall since Oliver Hunter in 1942. 2. Barbara Sullivan (Lacrosse) — Only the ninth student-athlete ever to serve as a three- year captain at Notre Dame in any sport, the graduate student was one of four finalists for the Honda Sports Award in lacrosse. The three-time first-team All-American is just the second player ever named the ACC's Defen- sive Player of the Year twice, leading the Irish to the NCAA quarterfinals each of those years. 3. Karley Wester (Softball) — Junior out- fielder set Notre Dame single-season records in hits (91), runs scored (68) and stolen bases (46) while leading the ACC in hits and batting average (.446) for the third consecutive sea- son. She was a top 10 finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year while starting all 56 games for the 43-13 Fighting Irish. 4 (tie). Madison Cable/Brianna Turner (Basketball) — Both must be lauded for their impact during a 33-2 season. The fifth-year senior Cable was the glue amidst some tumult against a difficult schedule while finishing second on the team in scoring (13.7 points per game) and rebounding (5.7 caroms per contest), paced the squad in steals (61) and three pointers (73), and finished fifth nationally in three- point percentage (47.1) while repeatedly making one clutch shot after another. The sophomore Turner, despite shoulder problems that temporarily sidelined her, was selected to the 10-woman All-America teams of the USBWA and USBCA, in addition to first-team accolades from Sports Illustrated and second-team recognition by espnW and the Associated Press. Turner led the team in scoring (14.6) and rebounding (7.3), and blocked a team-high 88 shots. Senior distance runner Molly Seidel established her- self as one of the greatest athletes in Notre Dame history while winning four different national titles this past calendar year and leading her cross coun- try team to a No. 8 finish in the country. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS