April 26, 2016

By Joanne Norell

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame senior Garrett McGrath has been named the 2015-16 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Fencing Scholar-Athlete of the Year, headlining the All-ACC Academic Men’s Fencing Team.

McGrath, a computer science major from Mesa, Arizona, earned Second Team All-America honors this season after finishing eighth in men’s epee at the NCAA Championship. He was also the runner-up at the NCAA Midwest Regional and helped the Irish capture their second consecutive ACC Championship in February.

A four-time NCAA Championship qualifier and two-time All-American, McGrath was the national runner-up at the 2014 NCAA Championship, after which he earned First Team All-America recognition. In 2015, he was the ACC Men’s Epee Champion, while he also claimed the league title in the Midwest Fencing Conference in 2013.

It marks the second straight year that the Irish have boasted the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Last season, Ariel DeSmet (’15) was named the men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while Lee Kiefer (’17) earned the honor for the women.

Olivia Adragna of Boston College was selected as this year’s Women’s Fencing Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

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To keep up with Irish fencing, visit UND.com/NDFencing, follow @NDFencing on Twitter and like Notre Dame Fencing on Facebook.

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Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.