March 23, 2005

Notre Dame, Ind. – Seniors Kerry Meagher (Allentown, Pa.) and Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Calif.) were the recent recipients of $2,000 stipends presented by the BIG EAST Conference as Notre Dame’s nominees for the conference’s female and male scholar-athlete awards.

Meagher has enjoyed a stellar four-year career and has earned All-America honors in cross country and track on three occasions. She helped the Irish claim the BIG EAST cross country titles in 2002 and 2003 and top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships each of the last three years, including a third-place finish in ’02 and a fourth-place finish in ’04.

During the 2003-04 school year as a junior, Meagher finished seventh in the mile at the NCAA indoor championships and was ninth in the 1,500 at the outdoor championships. She also won the ’03 individual title at the National Catholic Cross Country Championships and was sixth overall at the BIG EAST Championships. Meagher helped the distance medley relay team to second-place finish at the conference indoor championships in the winter of ’04 and as third in the 1,500 meters at the outdoor championships. This past fall, she finished 34th overall at the NCAA Cross Country Championships to earn All-America honors.

Meagher holds the school record in the indoor 1,000 meters (2:52.43) and was a member of the 4×800-meter relay and distance medley relay teams that currently own school records in those events.

A pre-professional major in the College of Science with a cumulative grade point average of 3.649, she will attend medical school in the fall of 2005. Meagher is a member of Alpha Epsilon Delta (Pre-Med Honor Society) and the Academic Honors Program.

D’Amico has been a four-year starter for the Irish and owns a 30-31career record in singles dual matches and 46-36 mark in dual doubles play. The two-time captain has helped Notre Dame to two BIG EAST team titles – in ’02 and ’04 — and has been ranked as high as 44th nationally in doubles and 99th in singles. He holds the Notre Dame record for career clinching victories in doubles action (21).

D’Amico owns eight career victories (five singles, three doubles) over nationally ranked opponents, highlighted by upsets of #50 in singles and #26 in doubles. He and his Irish teammates are currently ranked 20th with an 13-5 overall record.

D’Amico owns a 3.758 grade point average and is enrolled as a finance major in the Mendoza College of Business. Also a member of the Academic Honors Program at Notre Dame, he earned a spot in the Department of Finance’s prestigious Applied Investment Management class.

A two-time recipient of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Scholar-Athlete Award, he was nominated and applied for a Rhodes Scholarship in the fall of ’04. In addition, he also was nominated for Marshall and Mitchell Scholarships.