Notre Dame Athletics Annual Report Seasons in Review
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Athletics 2015-16 ANNUAL REPORT ON THE COVER (from lower left) Jaylon Smith 2015 Butkus Award winner and consensus first-team All-American (football) Ronnie Stanley INSIDE 2015 consensus first-team All-American (football) Molly Seidel 29 Fencing (M) Three-time NCAA individual Letter from champion in 2015-16 (cross coun- Jack Swarbrick 30 Fencing (W) try and track and field) 01 31 Football Brianna Turner 32 Golf (M) 2016 first-team All-American Year in Review Golf (W) (women’s basketball) 33 3 Academics 34 Hockey Matt Landis 02 Two-time winner (2015 and 2016) 5 Alumni Updates 35 Lacrosse (M) of William C. Schmeisser Award as Athletics Advancement 36 Lacrosse (W) USILA national defensive player 6 of the year and 2016 Tewaaraton 8 Community Commitment 37 Rowing Award finalist (men’s lacrosse) 10 Compliance 38 Soccer (M) Barbara Sullivan 11 Facilities 39 Soccer(W) Two-time (2015 and 2016) Softball Tewaaraton Award finalist (wom- 12 Honors and Awards 40 en’s lacrosse) 16 Marketing 41 Swimming & Diving (M) Zach Auguste, Demetrius Jackson 17 Media 42 Swimming & Diving (W) and A.J. Burgett 19 Monogram Club 43 Tennis (M) Veterans of the only team in the country to qualify for the NCAA 20 Olympics 44 Tennis (W) Elite Eight in both 2015 and 2016 50 Draftees 45 Track & Field, Indoor (M) (men’s basketball) 52 Sports Performance 46 Track & Field, Indoor (W) 54 Student Welfare 47 Track & Field, Outdoor (M) and Development 48 Track & Field, Outdoor (W) 56 Mendelson Fund 49 Volleyball Sports 22 24 Baseball 25 Basketball (M) 26 Basketball (W) 27 Cross Country (M) 28 Cross Country (W) UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS ANNUAL REPORT SEASONS IN REVIEW I would like to say that I know where I am proud of the way our pro- We have to mine the small margins intercollegiate athletics will be a grams, even while competing at of victory that define success in an decade or two from now. elite levels, continue to accom- increasingly competitive environment, plish amazing things: and for us that is about investing in But I don’t. sport science and analytics. Brian Kelly’s 2015 football program I do, however, know that the spent the entire fall immersed in the We need to enhance the fan University of Notre Dame is firmly College Football Playoff conversation experience at all of our home events. committed to both maintaining and rankings and then played in a Without compromising our tradi- New Year’s Six bowl game. tions, we need to meet the most Notre Dame’s model of athletics as modern standards and expectations Mike Brey’s men’s basketball team an integral part of our education for customer service and the advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for mission and having an impact on in-game experience. The Campus a second straight year in 2016, a first the critical decisions that will be Crossroads Project is a compelling for Notre Dame, and the only men’s example of this focus. made about the uncertain future of basketball program to accomplish intercollegiate athletics. that in ’15 and ’16. We must continue to invest in our educational mission. That means Major college sports have never Muffet McGraw’s squad again went creating foreign study opportunities, been more competitive—and never unbeaten in Atlantic Coast Confer- internships and expanded career ence play, won the ACC Tournament been more complicated. services. and didn’t lose a game for three As hard as we work to win, we months. Finally, we need to utilize athletics work even harder to prepare our as a vehicle to promote the Univer- Our fencing teams combined to sity. We must be evangelical about students to be future leaders—in finish fifth in the NCAA Champio- telling the stories of who we are, their families, communities and ship—and our women’s indoor track what we believe in and who our professions. In addition, from an squad achieved the identical NCAA students and coaches are. That is administrative standpoint, we are finish. why we have continued to build our committed to playing a leadership On an individual basis, Molly Fighting Irish Media operations and role when it comes to determining Seidel won three individual NCAA partnered with entertainment leaders what college athletics will be about titles in a single athletic year—one like Showtime and Bleacher Report. in cross country and two in indoor in those decades to come. College sports continue to evolve track—and that had never happened in dramatic ways. That represents a at Notre Dame. fabulous opportunity for Notre Dame There were dozens of other athletics to prove its case. We have a headline-making individual achieve- view of what college athletics is and ments, from Jaylon Smith claiming should be and we intend to take a the Butkus Award to Matt Landis national leadership role and be evan- being named the national defensive gelical about that as well. player of the year in men’s lacrosse The pages to come provide a sam- for a second consecutive season. pling of where we are as an athletics But, at the end of the day, what department—both in terms of what distinguishes our students who par- our teams are doing on the field and ticipate in athletics are the other suc- the manner in which our adminis- cesses they achieve. At what other tration provides more opportuni- school have two of the most recent ties every day for our students to student body presidents been varsity improve, grow and succeed both on athletes—with one of those athletes, and off the field. fencer Alex Coccia, currently study- ing at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and the other, football player Corey Robinson, hoping to emulate Alex’s JACK Rhodes success? As we move forward, we are focused on strategic areas where we need to Jack Swarbrick place our attention as a department: Vice President James E. Rohr Director of Athletics First, without in any way compro- SWARBRICK mising the defining elements of VICE PRESIDENT, James E. Rohr Director of Athletics Notre Dame’s approach to intercol- legiate athletics, we must continue to generate the resources necessary to adequately support our students, ensure their health and safety and pursue national championships. iv UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS ANNUAL REPORT 1 YEAR IN REVIEW YEAR IN REVIEW 2015–16 ACADEMICS 02 Notre Dame Leads Way in NCAA APR Four-Year Numbers 16 Irish programs earn per- fect scores for most at NCAA FBS level Sixteen Notre Dame athletic teams earned 1,000 scores— more perfect scores than any other NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision school—in the annual set of Academic Prog- ress Rate statistics issued in April by the NCAA. Notre Dame’s number of perfect scores of 1,000 has ranked either first or second among all FBS programs for 11 Notre Dame Wins Ninth year in a row Notre Dame led the nation in straight years. Leaders in the GSR categories for all student-athletes (at 98) 2016 data were Notre Dame Straight National Title and female student-athletes (99). (16), Stanford (14), Boston Col- in Graduation Rates In addition to its number-one GSR ranking for lege (12), Minnesota (11), Rice all student-athletes (98), Notre Dame finished (10), Duke and Northwestern Notre Dame graduates 98 percent of tied for first among female student-athletes (nine each), Tulane (seven), its student-athletes between 2005 at 99, tied for second among male student- along with Auburn, Michigan and 2008 athletes at 97 percent (behind Stanford at and North Carolina (six each). Notre Dame in November claimed a share of 98) and tied for third among black student- Seven Notre Dame men’s the 2015 national championship for graduating athletes at 92 percent (behind Duke at 98 and teams—cross country, fencing, student-athletes in all sports—in the process Northwestern at 94). In football, Notre Dame golf, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, posting the top NCAA Graduation Success ranked fifth at 93. track and field—registered Rate (GSR) figure (98) for its student-athletes Notre Dame graduated 93 percent of all perfect 1,000 scores. Nine for the ninth straight year. The GSR number women competing in varsity athletics to rank Irish women’s teams—basket- for all Notre Dame student-athletes rated the second among its peer institutions based on ball, cross country, fencing, Irish first (tied with Duke and Stanford) among the federal calculations (behind Stanford at lacrosse, softball, swimming the football-playing institutions in the NCAA 97). Among men, Notre Dame’s 89 percent and diving, tennis, track and Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division federal rate was third (behind Stanford at 92 field, volleyball—also earned I-A). The 2015 NCAA figures were based on and Northwestern at 90). Notre Dame gradu- perfect scores. This year entering classes from 2005 through 2008. ated 85 percent of its black student-athletes, for the first time indoor and Notre Dame research showed Irish student- ranking tied for fourth based on the federal outdoor track and field were athletes in 2015 ranked number one in two of rate, and Irish football players graduated at combined into one score. 10 sets of standings—ranking second in three an 82 percent rate to rank sixth. others and third in two more. For the seventh 2 UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS ANNUAL REPORT 3 YEAR IN REVIEW Six other Notre Dame teams 03 04 produced scores of 985 or Academic All- Four Earn ACC better: women’s rowing Americans Postgraduate (998), men’s swimming and Notre Dame senior men’s soccer midfielder diving (994), baseball (991), Scholarships Patrick Hodan was chosen as the College Sports men’s ice hockey (991), wom- Notre Dame senior men’s soccer 2015 graduate Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Aca- ALUMNI UPDATES en’s golf (988) and women’s Patrick Hodan, senior rower Sarah Kappers and demic All-America Team Member of the Year in soccer (985).