Four Student-Athletes Selected To Academic All-District Team
All four members of GTE team are seniors.

May 24, 2000

Notre Dame, Ind. – Four senior Notre Dame student-athletes were named to the GTE District V Academic Team for the 2000 Spring At-Large Program. Lacrosse captains Steve Fiamingo (Cinicinnati, Ohio) and Kevin Higgins (Wilton, Conn.), men’s golfer Jeff Connell (LaCrosse, Wisc.) and track All-American Alison Klemmer (Troy, Mich.) are now eligible for national honors which will be announced in mid-June.

Connell posted team-best finishes at Treasure Coast Classic (5th, 223) and Marshall Invitational (11th, 220) in 2000. His career stroke average of 75.85 ranks second in Notre Dame history among players with 50-plus rounds played. Connell had seven career top-20 finishes, including second at the 1999 Kentucky Invitational and third at the 1998 Butler Invitational. A Dean’s List student all eight semesters at Notre Dame, Connell was one of 32 student-athletes who participated in the Academic Honors faculty mentoring program. A member of the Golf Coaches Association Scholar Team, he received his degree in accounting from the College of Business Administration.

Fiamingo started all 14 games on defense for the Notre Dame lacrosse team that advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament and finished with a 10-4 record. He tallied his first two collegiate goals this season against Army and Loyola. Fiamingo was one of 11 goal scorers in Notre Dame’s 15-13 first round upset of No. 5. The Irish captain boasted the highest grade point average on the lacrosse team and was a member of the Dean’s List all eight semesters. A Big Brothers/Big Sisters member, Fiamingo attended the European Leadership Conference for Arthur Andersen in the fall of 1999 and has served internships with Arthur Andersen and Price Waterhouse/Coopers in the last two summers. He was graduated from the College of Business Administration with a degree in accounting.

Higgins was Notre Dame’s top midfield and face-off specialist over the last three seasons. His .569 face off winning percentage ranks him 13th in the country this season as the Irish are fifth overall nationally in that category. For the third consecutive year he led Notre Dame in ground balls (71) and ranks third all-time with 250 for his career. Higgins, who captained thte Irish in 2000, also was a member of the Academic Honors Program. He participated in the STARS program (reading to grade-schoolers), was a YES program volunteer at the 1999 NCAA Championship and donated many hours to the Notre Dame Life Skills department. Higgins received his degree in history from the College of Arts and Letters.

Klemmer has consistently ranked as the top distance runner for the Notre Dame women’s cross country and track and field teams. Klemmer became the school’s first-ever women’s distance All-American in the 10,000 meters in 1998. She repeated her All-American status in 1999 finishing seventh and has provisionally qualified for the 2000 NCAA championship this year. A third team Academic All-American selection in 1999, she was a member of Irish women’s cross country team which particpated at the 1999 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Klemmer was graduated from the College of Science with a degree in biology and was an eight-time Dean’s List honoree.