Sept. 30, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Olympic gold medalists Mariel Zagunis and Kate Sobrero Markgraf along with Irish football standouts Jimmy Clausen, Terrail Lambert and Pat Kuntz will be among the speakers at the Notre Dame-Stanford pep rally Friday night (Oct. 3) at the Joyce Center.
Zagunis (she won both gold and bronze with the United States fencing team) and Markgraf (she won gold with the U.S. women’s soccer squad) are two of the nine Olympians with Notre Dame connections who competed at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. A video commemorating the achievements of those nine will be shown at the rally, and all those in attendance will be introduced, in addition to the remarks from the two gold medal winners.
Clausen, a sophomore quarterback from Westlake Village, Calif., Lambert a senior cornerback from Bakersfield, Calif., and Kuntz, a senior defensive end from Indianapolis, Ind., will speak, along with Irish head coach Charlie Weis.
The rally also will feature a commemorative video recognizing the Hall of Fame career of former Irish coach Ara Parseghian (1964-74). Parseghian, who will participate in the coin toss Saturday prior to the game, is the third of five Irish national championship coaches to be honored during the 2008 Notre Dame home season. The families of former coaches Frank Leahy and Knute Rockne will be honored at the final two Irish games Nov. 1 versus Pittsburgh and Nov. 22 against Syracuse.
Another video showing top moments from the Notre Dame-Stanford series also will be shown.
The rally will feature performances by the Notre Dame pom squad and the Irish dance team, as well as dorm championship league competition.
Also new for rallies in 2008 is a specially-produced video introduction shown just prior to the Irish team entering the arena.
The pep rally begins at approximately 6:00 p.m., with the Irish team entering the arena at 6:30 p.m.
In an effort to simplify the process of accessing arena seating for rallies, tickets for admission are no longer required. The Joyce Center doors will open to the public Fridays at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.
— ND —