June 30, 2015
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After a successful outdoor season in which the University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s track and field programs saw 12 individuals collect All-America honors, the Fighting Irish can add academic hardware to the shelf as five men and seven women were named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Outdoor Track & Field teams Tuesday.
With all honorees also having earned either all-conference or All-America recognition for their athletic exploits, the Irish men tied for second in the conference with Florida State with five men earning all-academic nods, while the women’s seven came in just behind the Seminoles’ eight honorees. Sophomores Jacob Dumford and Nathan Richartz, junior Michael Clevenger, and seniors Chris Giesting and Martin Grady rounded out the men’s class, while freshman Parker English, juniors Margaret Bamgbose and Molly Seidel and seniors Mary Esther Gourdin, Amber Lalla, Carly Loeffel, and Emily Morris made up the women’s contingent.
For the men, NC State’s Jonathan Addison earned Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, while Florida State’s Colleen Quigley took home the women’s recognition.
The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award was established in September 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates for the award must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their career as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters.
To be eligible for consideration for the All-ACC Academic team, a student-athlete, regardless of classification, must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his or her academic career.
Dumford, a native of Westerville, Ohio, is a Computer Science major who earned his first All-ACC Academic nod to add to his first career All-ACC performance. Dumford placed sixth in the 1,500 meters at the ACC Outdoor Championships to take home second-team honors.
Richartz, a Marketing major, also turned in an impressive spring. The Island Lake, Illinois, product recorded a career-high jump in the pole vault at the NCAA East Preliminary Championships to earn a spot at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where he snared second team All-American honors.
An Accountancy major from Decatur, Illinois, Clevenger earned a spot at the NCAA Championships after a sixth-place showing at the regional qualifying meet. He finished 15th to also take home second team All-America honors.
Grady wrapped up his fifth season of eligibility with his first track & field All-ACC Academic team invitation. A Finance major from Burr Ridge, Illinois, Grady has three times been named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Cross Country team and was also named a BIG EAST Academic All-Star as a junior. He placed sixth in the 10,000 meters at the ACC Championships for second-team all-league recognition.
Giesting finished his career as one of the most decorated men to ever don an Irish uniform by making his fourth All-ACC Academic squad. An 11-time All-American – tied for the most in Notre Dame history – Giesting was named both the Indoor and Outdoor ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year a season ago and followed it up by make both the indoor and outdoor All-ACC Academic teams this season. Giesting is a native of Batesville, Indiana, and graduated in May with a degree in Management Entrepreneurship.
Seidel turned in an historic season for the Irish, highlighted by the first national championship in women’s program history. Seidel, an Anthropology major, ran to victory in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, despite it being just her third race at the distance and placing as the runner-up at the ACC Championships. She also captured the ACC crown in the 5,000 meters during the outdoor season, after picking up two ACC titles during the indoor campaign. Seidel was also named to the Capital One Academic All-District V Track & Field/Cross Country Team following the season.
Bamgbose captured her first ACC academic recognition after a spring in which she picked up four All-ACC citations and a pair of All-America scrolls. The Information Technology Management major from Evanston, Illinois, snared an ACC championship as part of the record-breaking 4×400-meter relay team, took home first team honors in the 400 meters, then second-team recognition in the 200 meters and the 4×100-meter relay. Bamgbose went on to earn first team All-America honors in the 400, while picking up a second team citation in the 4×400-meter relay.
Also a part of that ACC championship relay, English earned her first career conference academic honor. A freshman in the First Year of Studies, English was also a second team All-ACC honoree as part of the 4×100-meter relay squad.
Lalla graduated in May with a Science Pre-professional degree after capping her career with an ACC championship and second team All-America recognition in the 4×400-meter relay. The Las Cruces, New Mexico, native earned her third career All-ACC Academic nod.
Also wrapping her career was Gourdin, who earned her second All-ACC Academic distinction after also being named to this season’s indoor team. The school record-holder in the triple jump, Gourdin, an American Studies major, placed fourth at this year’s ACC Championships, earning second-team conference honors.
Loeffel, a one-time All-American in the heptathlon, return from injury to cap her senior season with a first team All-ACC performance, falling just shy of Notre Dame’s heptathlon record. Loeffel graduated in May with a degree in Accountancy.
Finally, Morris earned honorable mention All-American and second team All-ACC honors this season in the shot put after a career in which she etched her name into both the indoor and outdoor record books. The London, Ohio, native picked up her second All-ACC Academic nod this season after previously having earned BIG EAST and USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition as a sophomore.
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