Dec. 2, 2006
ST. LOUIS – Notre Dame sophomore forward Kerri Hanks (Allen, Texas) has been named the recipient of the prestigious Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C.) Hermann Trophy for the 2006 season, becoming the youngest player (by class) – male or female – ever to receive the prestigious M.A.C. or Hermann awards (which merged in 2001). Hanks joins former midfield standouts Cindy Daws (1996) and Anne Makinen (2000) as the three Notre Dame players who have received the M.A.C. Hermann awards, college soccer’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. North Carolina is the only team with more recipients in the 19-year history of the women’s awards while Notre Dame is the only program to produce two different M.A.C/Hermann Trophy women’s winners during the current decade. Notre Dame junior forward Joe Lapira received the men’s M.A.C. Hermann Trophy, making Notre Dame the first school ever to produce the men’s and women’s winners for the same season.
Hanks currently leads the nation in both goals (22) and assists (21) while becoming just the 11th Division I player ever to reach 20 goals and 20 assists in a season. She is on pace to join former UNC standout Mia Hamm (in 1992) as the only women’s soccer players ever to finish the season as the nation’s leader in goals and assists.
Hanks becomes part of a select all-time group of 47 Notre Dame student-athletes – among them seven Heisman Trophy winners in football – who have been honored as the nation’s best in their respective sports (a total of 55 times), by earning national player of the year or winning an NCAA individual champion. Eight of those elite performers (a total of nine times) have coupled the top individual honors with winning a team national champion, with that short list including three football players, five fencers and women’s basketball standout Ruth Riley.
North Carolina senior forward Heather O’Reilly and UNC sophomore midfielder Yael Averbuch were the other two finalists for the 2006 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy and joined Hanks at the trophy ceremony on Saturday in Cary, N.C. The women’s award formally was announced along with the men’s winner on Saturday night in St. Louis, the site of the Men’s College Cup. The women’s ceremony was taped and then aired later in the day, both on ESPN News and on-site at the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy banquet.
With 50 career goals, 36 assists and 136 points, Hanks has established herself as one of the top scorers over her first two seasons in the 25-year history of Division I women’s soccer. Late 1980s SMU player Lisa Cole (147) and early 1980s UC Santa Barbara standout Carin Jennings (147) and are the only Division I players ever to total more points over the course of their freshman and sophomores seasons, with Hanks owning the top freshman/sophomore point total in the past 18 seasons.
Hanks takes a 12-game point streak into Sunday’s NCAA title game versus North Carolina (12:30 EST, live on ESPN-2) and is five points shy of joining former Irish teammate Katie Thorlakson and former SMU/Florida player Danielle Fotopoulos as the only D-I players ever to post 70 points in multiple seasons (she had 71 in 2005). Hanks already owns or shares an assortment of 43 different Notre Dame women’s soccer scoring records.
The 18 previous recipients of the women’s Hermann Trophy include no freshmen or sophomores, only five juniors and 13 seniors. The five juniors to receive the award have included UNC’s Kristine Lilly (1991), Hamm (’92) and Cindy Parlow (’97), plus Penn State’s Christie Welsh (2001) and Portland’s Christine Sinclair (’04). Hamm and Sinclair technically were fourth-year players during those junior seasons but each took a year off from college soccer earlier in their careers in order to play with their respective national teams (Hamm with the U.S. and Sinclair with Canada).
Quotes and additional updated notes on Hanks follow below:
NOTRE DAME SOPHOMORE FORWARD Kerri Hanks (comments and response to media questions) – “I want to congratulate both Yael and Heather. It’s such a great accomplishment just to be named a finalist with you all. I also want to thank my teammates. I could not have done it without them. They are amazing teammates and have been there through hard times and good times. My coaches – Randy, Ben, Dawn and Lindsey – they came in and set the goals and we have accomplished so much. They have been a great help to me. I also want to thank my parents. I could not have done it without them. They have helped me so much coming up in soccer and are my best supporters. This is an amazing honor.
“I did not think I was going to win it. It’s such an accomplishment just to be named with the three finalists. I can’t explain how thankful I am to my teammates. Without them, I would not be close to getting this award. Randy and the other coaches have been such a big help with asking more from me and making me more of a team player.
“My dad [Gary Hanks] is my hero when it comes to soccer. He taught me everything I knew about the game growing up. It gave me a huge advantage. It’s great to have a parent who can help you so much with the sport you love. He’s an amazing guy and amazing coach.
“There’s always that pressure after winning an award like this, but it’s not worth worrying about. My focus is on playing for a national championship.
“It’s always been my goal to play for the national team. I wish that the coach would come out and see our team play a little more. I’m still in college and have two more years. My time is not yet but hopefully it will come later. I think more about the team now than individually. To be the best player in the world is not something I am too worried about.
“At Notre Dame, we are so high up on our academics. It’s awesome to come to Notre Dame and play and it is a challenge to balance the academics and athletics. You find a way and dig it out. Our team’s GPA is amazing. You could not ask for much more in terms of playing with such a great team and getting a great education.”
NOTRE DAME HEAD COACH Randy Waldrum – “It’s s a credit to all three of the finalists for being among the final three from among more than 300 teams in the country. I’ve known Kerri since she was about 10 years old. Her younger brother Trevor used to come to our camp when I was coaching at the University of Tulsa. We have watched her play for many years and have known her parents for a long time. It seems like she was one of those kids that, when we went to watch her on the recruiting trail, she just scored goals. I am so proud for her and for the year she had for us. As a freshman, she scored 28 goals but Christine Sinclair scored 39. Kerri has had a fantastic season and we are so proud of her. We want to thank all the people at the M.A.C. and the NSCAA.”
SELECT COMPANY (full list below) – Hanks becomes part of a select group of former Notre Dame student-athletes who have been honored as the nation’s best in their respective sports, joining the likes of seven former Heisman Trophy winners from the Irish football teams (among them Angelo Bertelli, Johnny Lujack, Paul Hornung and Tim Brown) star men’s basketball player Austin Carr – the only Notre Dame hoopster ever to win national player-of-the-year honors from the AP or UPI (both in 1971) – and women’s basketball standout Ruth Riley (who helped lead the Irish to the 2001 NCAA title) … a total of 47 Notre Dame student-athletes have received a major national player-of-the-year award or placed first in NCAA individual competition (for their respective events or weapons), with those 47 combining for 55 total player-of-the-year/NCAA champion seasons (four have been two-time champs and two others were rare three-time champions) … the 42 NCAA individual champions include 18 in men’s track & field, 12 in men’s fencing, 10 in women’s fencing and two in men’s cross country.
TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL HONORS – Kerri Hanks has a chance to become the 10th different Notre Dame student-athlete to receive a top national honor while also helping lead her team to a national title … it happed three times in the 1940s with the Irish football team, as Angelo Bertelli (1943), Johnny Lujack (1947) and Leon Hary (1949) each earned the Heisman Trophy while playing for national-title teams … individual titles from fencers Mike Sullivan (sabre) and pat Gerard (foil) were key parts to the Notre Dame men winning the team title in 1977 and the Irish fencers repeated in 1978, behind a pair of individual champions (Sullivan and epeeist Bjorn Vaggo) … women’s basketball center Ruth Riley collected numerous national player-of-the-year honors as one of the leaders for Notre Dame’s 2001-01 team that won the NCAA title … most recently, women’s foilist Alicja Kryczalo (2003) and men’s epeeist Michal Sobieraj (2005) were key components to Notre Dame winning NCAA men’s and women’s combined fencing titles in both of those seasons.
RARE REPEATERS – As just a sophomore this year, Kerri Hanks will have the chance in 2007 and 2008 to be a rare multiple-year national player of the year … that honor has been achieved by six previous Notre Dame student-athletes (once since the late 1980s and only twice in nearly 60 years): high jumper Johnny Murphy (1921 and ’22 NCAA champion); discus thrower Tom Lieb (1923 and ’24 NCAA champ); distance runner Greg Rice (NCAA two-mile champion in 1937 and ’39, plus NCAA cross country champion in 1938); men’s fencing sabreist Mike Sullivan (1977 and ’78 NCAA champion); and most recently women’s fencing foil standouts Molly Sullivan (1986 and ’88 NCAA champion); and Alicja Kryczalo (2002, ’03 and ’04 NCAA champ) … Rice and Kryczalo are the only three-time honorees on the above list.
MULTIPLE HONOREES – Kerri Hanks and Joe Lapira’s sweep of the M.A.C Hermann Trophy marks just the fourth time that Notre Dame student-athletes from different teams have been national player of the year/NCAA individual champion during the same academic year … Angelo Bertelli won the Heisman Trophy in the fall of 1943 before the following spring semester (1944) saw Frank Martin win the NCAA two-mile run while Phil Anderson was the NCAA pole-vault champion … Sullivan Award winner Greg Rice was the 1938 cross country champion before returning the next spring to win the NCAA two-mile race (1939) … the most impressive grouping of top national honorees came at the start of the current decade, as women’s soccer midfielder Anne Makinen received the 2000 Hermann Trophy and M.A.C. Award (in the fall), women’s basketball center Ruth Riley was national player of the year for the 2000-01 season, and distance runner Ryan Shay won the NCAA outdoor 10,000 meters … there have been six other years in which one Notre Dame team has produced multiple NCAA individual champions: 1921 track and field (high jumper Johnny Murphy and javelin thrower Eugene Obert); 1926 track and field (pole vaulter Paul Harrington and miler Charles Judge); 1977 men’s fencing (foilist Pat Gerard and sabreist Mike Sullivan); 1978 men’s fencing (Sullivan and epeeist Bjorn Vaggo); 2002 women’s fencing (epeeist Kerry Walton and foilist Alicja Kryczalo); and 2004 women’s fencing (Kryczalo and sabreist Valerie Providenza).
TOP FEMALE PERFORMERS – Notre Dame female student-athletes now have been national player of the year/NCAA champion a total of 14 times (by 11 individuals) … that group includes the three soccer players who have earned the Hermann and M.A.C. Awards (midfielders Cindy Daws, in ’96, and Anne Makinen, in 2000, and forward Kerri Hanks, in ’06), plus basketball player Ruth Riley (2000-01 season) and 10 in fencing: Molly Sullivan (foil, 1986 and ’88), Heidi Piper (foil, ’91), Magda Krol (epee, ’97), Kerry Walton (epee, ’02), Alicja Kryczalo (foil, ’02-’04), Valerie Providenza (sabre, ’04) and Mariel Zagunis (sabre, ’06)
All-Time Notre Dame National Players of the Year and NCAA Individual Champions (player-of-the-year honors refer to those bestowed by established national coaching and media organizations)
1921 … Gus Desch … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (220-yard low hurdles)
1921 … Johnny Murphy … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (high jump)
1921 … Eugene Obert … NCAA Champion … outdoor track (javelin)
1922 … Johnny Murphy … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (high jump)
1923 … Tom Lieb … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (discus)
1924 … Tom Lieb … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (discus)
1926 … Paul Harrington … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (pole vault)
1926 … Charles Judge … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor tack (mile)
1931 … Alex Wilson … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (440 yards)
1933 … Vincent Murphy … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (high jump)
1937 … Greg Rice … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (two miles)
1938 … Greg Rice … NCAA Champion … cross country
1939 … Greg Rice … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (two miles)
1942 … Oliver Hunter … NCAA Champion … cross country
1943 … Angelo Bertelli … Heisman Trophy … football
1944 … Frank Martin … NCAA Champion … outdoor track (two miles)
1944 … Phil Anderson … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (pole vault)
1947 … Johnny Lujack … Heisman Trophy … football
1949 … Leon Hart … Heisman Trophy … football
1953 … Johnny Lattner … Heisman Trophy … football
1955 … Don Tadrowski … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (epee)
1956 … Aubrey Lewis … NCAA Champion … men’s outdoor track (440-m intermediate hurdles)
1956 … Paul Hornung … Heisman Trophy … football
1964 … John Huarte … Heisman Trophy … football
1970 … Rick Wohlhuter … NCAA Champion … men’s indoor track (600 yards)
1971 … Austin Carr … AP and UPI Player of the Year … men’s basketball
1972 … Tom McMannon … NCAA Champion … indoor men’s track (55-meter hurdles)
1977 … Pat Gerard … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (foil)
1977 … Mike Sullivan … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (sabre)
1978 … Mike Sullivan … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (sabre)
1978 … Bjorn Vaggo … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (epee)
1979 … Andy Bonk … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (foil)
1983 … Ola Harstrom … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (epee)
1984 … Charles Higgs-Coulthard … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (foil)
1986 … Molly Sullivan … NCAA Champion … women’s fencing (foil)
1987 … Tim Brown … Heisman Trophy … football
1988 … Molly Sullivan … NCAA Champion … women’s fencing (foil)
1990 … Jubba Beshin … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (epee)
1991 … Heidi Piper … NCAA Champion … women’s fencing (foil)
1996 … Cindy Daws … Hermann Trophy/M.A.C. Award … women’s soccer
1997 … Magda Krol … NCAA Champion … women’s fencing (epee)
1998 … Luke LaValle … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (sabre)
1999 … Gabor Szelle … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (sabre)
2000 … Anne Makinen … Hermann Trophy/M.A.C. Award… women’s soccer
2001 … Ruth Riley … national player of the year … women’s basketball
2001 … Ryan Shay … NCAA Champion … men’s track (outdoor 10,000 meters)
2002 … Kerry Walton … NCAA Champion … women’s fencing (epee)
2002 … Alicja Kryczalo … NCAA Champion … women’s fencing (foil)
2003 … Alicja Kryczalo … NCAA Champion … women’s fencing (foil)
2004 … Alicja Kryczalo … NCAA Champion … women’s fencing (foil)
2004 … Valerie Providenza … NCAA Champion … women’s fencing (sabre)
2005 … Michal Sobieraj … NCAA Champion … men’s fencing (epee)
2006 … Mariel Zagunis … NCAA Champion … women’s fencing (sabre)
2006 … Joe Lapira … M.A.C. Hermann Trophy … men’s soccer
2006 … Kerri Hanks … M.A.C. Hermann Trophy … women’s soccer
* Note: the above list includes 42 NCAA individual champions (18 men’s track, 12 men’s fencing, 10 women’s fencing, two men’s cross country), and 13 national player-of-the-year winners (seven football, three women’s soccer, one men’s basketball, one women’s basketball and one men’s soccer).
A SCORER AND A SET-UP PLAYER – Hanks currently shares the national goalscoring lead (22, with Middle Tennessee’s Kala Morgan) while leading the nation in assists, with 21 … her primary competition to not finish atop either list actually comes from her teammate, freshman forward Michele Weissenhofer (18G-17A), as Yael Averbuch is UNC’s goal leader (16) and Heather O’Reilly leads UNC in assists (15) … three previous ND players have led the team in goals and assists for the same season: midfielder Anne Makinen (14G-15A, as a senior in 2000); forward Amanda Guertin (11G-11A, as a junior in 2002); and forward Katie Thorlakson (23G-24A, as a junior in 2004).
Hanks (22G-20A) is on pace to join Mia Hamm in the unique distinction of leading the nation in goals and assists during the same season.
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RARE 20-20 VISION – With her expanded assist ability this season, combined with her longrunning ability as a goalscorer, Hanks recently became the 11th player in Division I women’s soccer history to reach 20 goals and 20 assists in the same season (22G-21A) … four ND players (most from any school) are members of that elite 20-20 club: midfielders Cindy Daws (26G-20A) and Jenny Streiffer (22G-22A, both in 1996) and forward Katie Thorlakson (23G-24A, in 2004) … the other D-I players who have reached 20G-20A in a season include UCSB’s Carin Jennings (20G-26A, in ’86), UNC’s Mia Hamm (32G-33A, ’92), Robin Confer (20G-22A, ’97) and Lindsay Tarpley (23G-27A, ’03), UConn’s Sara Whalen (21G-22A, ’97), UNC Greensboro’s Kati Katanen (24G-20A, ’97) and Santa Clara’s Mandy Clemens (24G-23A, ’99) … Hanks is one of seven ever to reach 21G-21A in a season, as are Streiffer, Thorlakson, Hamm, Tarpley, Whalen and Clemens … Hamm’s 1992 totals remain the only time in D-I history that a player has totaled more goals and more assists in a season than Thorlakson’s output … is she can manage 2G-3A in Sunday’s title game, Hanks would become the first ND player ever to reach 24G-24A in a season (and would join Hamm as the only 24-24 players in 25 years of D-I women’s soccer … there have been five 22G-22A players (Streiffer, Thorlakson, Hamm, Tarpley and Clemens) and four who have reached 23G-23A (Thorlakson, Hamm, Tarpley and Clemens).
30-30 MILESTONE – Hanks is one of four Division I players ever to reach 30 career goals and 30 assists prior to her junior season (50G-36A) … others include former ND standout Jenny Streiffer (42G-40A, from 1996-97) and former UNC players Tisha Venturini (45G-34A; 1991-92) and Lindsay Tarpley (39G-42A; 2002-03) … Hanks, Streiffer and Tarpley are the only D-I players ever to reach 36G-36A before their junior seasons.
TWO-MONTH TEAR – Hanks has been on a roll since late September, factoring into nearly 70% of her team’s goals over that span (36 of 54, with 16G-20A) … she has totaled 52 points in that 17-game stretch (3.06 points per game).
FAST TWO-YEAR START – Only two players in Division I women’s soccer history have totaled more points over the course of their freshman and sophomores seasons than Hanks (136; 50G-36A) … former SMU player Lisa Cole has 147 points (60G-27A) during her first two seasons (1987-88) while UCSB legend Carin Jennings totaled 140 points spanning her freshman and sophomore seasons (60G-20A, 1983-84) … Hanks has more points as a freshman and sophomore than any D-I player in the past 18 years … she is the seventh D-I player to reach 50 goals before her junior season, with the others including: Jennings (60), Cole (60), BYU’s Shauna Rohbock (55; ’90-`91), Washington State’s Kim Lynass (55; ’90-`91), SMU’s Danielle Garrett (now Fotopoulos; 54; ’94-`95) and Campbell’s Jenn Stephenson (50; ’94-’95).
Hanks is on a four-year pace to become the seventh player in D-I history to reach 100 career goals.
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ELITE FOUR-YEAR PACE – With her career average of 2.67 points per game, Hanks is on pace to rank among the top career scorers in women’s soccer history … there are only seven D-I players who have finished with a higher career scoring avg. than Hanks’ current mark: Seton Hall’s Kelly Smith (3.41 career ppg), UCSB’s Carin Jennings (3.34), Portland’s Tiffeny Milbrett (3.32), SMU’s Lisa Cole (3.15), SMU/Florida player Danielle Garrett Fotopoulos (3.09), UNC’s Mia Hamm (3.02) and former North Texas player Marilyn Marin (2.71) … if Hanks matches her current career point total (136) in her final two seasons, the resulting 272 points would trail only Fotopoulos (284) and Hamm (278) … Hanks is averaging 0.97 goals per game for her career (50), which ranks 17th in ND history … she is on pace to become the seventh D-I player to reach 100 career goals, with that exclusive 100-goal club now including Fotopoulos (118), Sinclair (110), Hamm (103), Milbrett (103), Jennings (102) and Cole (101).
SET-PLAY SUCCESS – Nearly 60% of Hanks’ 21 assists this season (12 of 21) have come via corner-kick (8) or free-kick (4) services … she also has scored six career goals directly on dead-ball plays (four free kicks, two penalty kicks).
GOLDEN GIRL – The Irish are 32-0-0 during the past two seasons (2005-06) when Hanks scores a goal, as opposed to 14-3-1 when she fails to score.
43 ND RECORDS … AND COUNTING – Hanks already owns or shares an assortment of 43 Notre Dame scoring records … most notably, she has the best averages in ND history for career goals per game (0.98) and points per game (2.67), well on pace to break those marks shared by 1996-99 teammates Jenny Heft (0.83 gpg) and Jenny Streiffer (2.11 ppg) … some of the noteworthy ND records that Hanks has set this season include: points by a sophomore (65), career goals in postseason play (15, shares with two others); quickest to 30 (26 games), 40 (40 GP) and 50 (49 GP) career goals; quickest goal in a season opener (1:19, vs. Iowa State); and quickest goal in a postseason game (0:57, vs. Rutgers) … she is the only ND player ever to post a hat trick (vs. Oakland) and a 3-assist game (vs. Penn State) during NCAA Tournament play, with both of those games coming this season … Hanks joins former teammate Katie Thorlakson as the only ND players to reach 60 points in multiple seasons (71 in ’05, 64 in ’06) and this season joined Thorlakson as the only ND players ever to register six game-winning goals and six game-winning assists in the same season (Hanks is the only ND player with six GWGs in multiple seasons, both ’05 and `06) … Hanks also is the only ND player ever to total more than 20 goals in multiple seasons (28 in ’05, 22 in ’06) … she is the first ND player ever to register four career hat tricks prior to her junior season.
Hanks has points in 13 of the 14 postseason games during her career, with goals in 10 of those high-pressure games.
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SIX-WEEK SCORING STREAK – The scoreless tie at Connecticut on Oct. 13 marks the only time in the past 17 games that Hanks has failed to register a point (starting with the 3-1 win over #6 West Virginia, totaling 16G-19A in that span) … her current career-best, 12-game point streak is second-best in ND history (two shy of Katie Thorlakson’s record) and includes 37 points (11G-15A; 3.1 ppg).
POSTSEASON POISE – Hanks has posted points in 15 of her 16 career postseason games with the Irish, all but the 2005 NCAA quarterfinal loss at eventual NCAA champion Portland … she has goals in 10 of those 15 postseason games … Katie Thorlakson (27) is the only ND player with more career points in one postseason than Hanks (24, in 2006; 7G-10A) … Hanks already ranks second in ND history for career postseason points (43; 15G-13A), now 10 back of Thorlakson’s record (53), while her 24 career points in the NCAA Tournament (8G-8A) also are second in the ND record book, just five back of Thorlakson’s record (29) … Hanks recently tied the ND record for points in an NCAA Tournament game, with 3G-1A in the NCAA opener vs. Oakland … in that game, she became the first ND player to score or assist on the team’s first four goals in an NCAA Tournament game.
RARE GOAL DROUGHTS – Hanks has gone without a goal in three straight games just once in her ND career, earlier this season vs. USC, Santa Clara and TCU (Sept. 3-10) … she has just four two-game goal droughts spanning her 50 career games with the Irish: vs. Marquette and South Florida in 2005 (Sept. 30-Oct. 2), vs. Michigan and Louisville in 206 (Sept. 24-29), vs. Rutgers and Connecticut in ’06 (Oct. 8-Oct. 13) and in the past two NCAA games (vs. Penn State and Florida State, the first two-game goal-less streak during her current 17-game points tear).
OTHER RECORD-BOOK NOTES – Hanks already ranks 10th on the Notre Dame list for career goals (50), just five back of Katie Thorlakson and Rosella Guerrero, while her 136 career points rank 11th in ND history (six behind Guerrero) … she is on a four-year pace (100G-72A; 272 points) to fly past the ND records for career goals (80, by Jenny Heft) and points (211, by Jenny Streiffer) and would finish third in assists, just one behind Thorlakson (Holly Manthei holds the ND and NCAA record with 129 career assists) … Hanks currently ranks sixth on the ND list for single-season points (65), one behind Streiffer’s 1996 total and seven back of the ND record (72) set by Cindy Daws in ’96 (Hanks nearly matched that mark in 2005, with 71 points).
Hanks and former teammate Katie Thorlakson (#7) rank near the top of various Notre Dame record lists.
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70-70 PACE – Hanks is on a four-year pace for a 100G-72A career that would make her the third Division I player ever to reach 70 career goals and 70 assists … others include former UNC great Mia Hamm (103-72A; 1989-90, ’92-`93) and ND standout Jenny Streiffer (70G-71A; 1996-99) … three other D-I players have reached 60G-60A: ND’s Cindy Daws (61G-67A; 1993-96), UCSB’s Carin Jennings (102G-60A; 1983-86) and Santa Clara’s Mandy Clemens (67G-65A; 1996-99).
ANOTHER 70-70 MILESTONE – If she can register five points in Sunday’s title game, Hanks would become the third player in D-I history with multiple seasons of 70-plus points … Danielle Garrett Fotopoulos had three seasons with 70-plus points (83 in 1995 at SMU, 81 in 1996 at Florida and 75 in 1998 at Florida) while former ND player Katie Thorlakson had 70 points in 2004 and then 71 in 2005.
Hanks (64) and Michele Weissenhofer (53; right) currently rank 1-2 atop the national scoring charts and are the fourth set of Notre Dame teammates ever to reach 50 points in a season.
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50-50 TEAMMATES – Hanks (65) and freshman forward Michele Weissenhofer (53; 18G-17A) currently rank 1-2 atop the national points list and likely will finish in that position (UNC’s top scorer has 39 points) … Hanks and Weissenhofer are the 23rd set of teammates in D-I history to go over 50 points in the same season … pending clarification from the NCAA, it’s possible that former SMU standouts Danielle Garrett (83 points) and Courtney Linex (77) are the only other D-I teammates to finish 1-2 atop the NCAA scoring lists for a season (1995) … ND has produced four sets of teammates (most from any school) with 50-plus points in a season, also: Cindy Daws (72), Jenny Streiffer (66), Monica Gerardo (59) and Holly Manthei (54) in 1996; Anne Makinen (58), Streiffer (58) and Meotis Erikson (56) in ’97; and Katie Thorlakson (71) and Hanks (71) in ’05 … Hanks joins Streiffer as the only Irish players ever to be part of two 50-point teammate groupings.