Junior Reggie Bentley becomes the second Capital One Academic All-America Men's At-Large First Team selection in Notre Dame fencing history, joining Bill Lester who was named to the list in 1997

Men's Foilist Frederick Bentley Named To Capital One Academic All-America First Team

June 7, 2011

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame fencer Frederick Bentley has been chosen to the Capital One Academic All-America Men’s At-Large First Team, while tennis player Tyler Davis earned second-team honors. The teams were announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Tuesday.

Bentley and Davis are the fourth and fifth Notre Dame student-athletes during the ’10-11 school year to be named an Academic All-American. Overall, Notre Dame ranks second all-time in the number of Academic All-Americans it has produced with 221.

The Men’s At-Large program for the Academic All-America includes the sports of fencing, golf, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis and water polo.

Bentley, a foilist for Notre Dame’s 2011 NCAA National Championship team, is pursuing a degree from the program of liberal studies in the College of Arts and Letters and holds a 3.78 cumulative grade-point average. Off the strip, Bentley has been named a member of the Dean’s List on four occasions, while working with the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) Field Day and Christmas Party and participating in the Walk for Diabetes function.

On the strip, he also helped the Irish to a runner-up NCAA finish in ’09 and a third-place result in ’10. A second-team All-America selection in ’11, he earned the distinction after a fifth-place individual finish at the NCAA Championships that saw him post a 16-7 record in round-robin play. Overall, Bentley carries a record of 87-20 in foil and is a two-time, second-team all-Midwest Fencing Conference selection (’09 and ’10).

Bentley becomes the first Irish fencer to receive Academic All-America billing since ’08 when Adrienne Nott was selected as a third-team member and is the first first-team selection since Bill Lester earned the honor back in `97.

Davis, the first-ever two-time captain in the history of the Notre Dame men’s tennis program, graduated last month from the University’s College of Science with a degree in science business and plans to attend medical school in the fall at Vanderbilt University.

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Tyler Davis became just the second Notre Dame men’s tennis player to be named an Academic All-American and the first since Andy Zurcher earned the distinction in 1994.

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He graduated with a 3.914 grade point average and was a Dean’s List member in all eight of his semesters at Notre Dame. A three-time member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Star Team, he was the 2010 recipient of the league’s Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence award and also was Notre Dame’s institutional male recipient of the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete award this past January. Davis also was named the winner of the BIG EAST’s inaugural American Eagle Outfitters Mike Tranghese Post-Graduate Leadership Award in April.

A four-year starter, he played in every match throughout his collegiate career and was part of teams that have played in the NCAA tournament on four occasions, Davis helped lead the Irish to an 18-12 mark in 2010-11 and a No. 31 ranking in the final Campbell/ITA poll. He produced a 17-4 overall record in singles play and was 20-14 in doubles matches in his final season. Davis and his then doubles partner, Stephen Havens, were ranked as high as No. 28 this year.

While at Notre Dame, Davis was the recipient of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award and the Leader of Distinction Award that is presented to individuals who have been deemed exceptional leaders by their coaches and teammates. In addition, he also participated in the Rosenthal Leadership Academy.

Away from the tennis court, he served as a research assistant within the biology department at the University. Davis also had been a member of Notre Dame’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council for three years and was an officer within that group while serving as the BIG EAST SAAC representative. He also was a hospital and nursing home volunteer and participates in a weekly “Read to a Child” program. Davis served as the chief organizer for the men’s tennis team’s participation in the Fighting Irish for Life program in 2009 that paired a local high school student with cancer to the squad for a semester. He also was a volunteer for the Lifeworks Dream Team that helps to lead interactive workshops with South Bend elementary children about reaching their dreams.

Davis represents only the second men’s tennis player to be named an Academic All-American and becomes the first since Andy Zurcher was selected back in 1994.

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