Brent D'Amico, who graduated with a 3.764 cumulative GPA, has picked up a bevy of athletic, academic, leadership, and sportsmanship awards this semester.

Tennis Player Brent D'Amico And Swimmer Patrick Davis Earn CoSIDA Academic All-District Honors

May 26, 2005

A pair of Notre Dame student-athletes – recently-graduated tennis player Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School [TX]) and rising senior swimmer Patrick Davis (Clearwater, Fla./Jesuit H.S.) – were named to the 2004-05 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V University Division Men’s At-Large Teams, announced today by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). D’Amico was on the 10-member first team and will move on to the Academic All-America ballot, while Davis earned second-team accolades.

D’Amico, who has picked up a slew of academic, athletic, and leadership awards over the past few months, graduated from the Mendoza College of Business with a finance degree earlier this month, finishing with a 3.764 cumulative grade-point average. He was one of three tennis players to be recognized on the first team, along with Chris Martin of Illinois and Evan West of Butler. A pair of netters from Southern Illinois – Alexandru Nomicos and Lukasz Soswa – were second-team picks.

Davis, an engineering computer science major, earned a perfect 4.000 GPA in the spring semester to bring his cumulative average to 3.779. In all, there were six swimmers recognized, with Justin Mortimer of Minnesota and Purdue’s Louis Paul tabbed to the first team, while Davis, Marc Carlton of Indiana, Giordan Pogioli of Purdue, and Wisconsin’s Eric Wiesner were second-team selections.

The men’s at-large program covers 12 different sports, while each school was able to nominate a maximum of three student-athletes. District V includes schools in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, as well as the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. The team was voted on by members of CoSIDA from District V. CoSIDA members from across the country will vote for the Academic All-America team, which will be released on Tuesday, June 14.

The last collegiate semester for D’Amico has seen him gain a great deal of recognition for his accomplishments in all arenas. First, he was selected as Notre Dame’s one male nominee for the BIG EAST Conference Scholar-Athlete Award, assuring him a $2,000 stipend for graduate study. Then D’Amico was one of three recipients (the only male) of the Byron V. Kanaley Award – the most prestigious honor bestowed upon Notre Dame student-athletes – which recognizes seniors who have been exemplary as both students and leaders. One day later, the second-year Irish captain was tabbed the BIG EAST’s Most Outstanding Tournament Performer after clinching Notre Dame’s second consecutive conference championship. Also an all-tournament selection in both singles and doubles, D’Amico became the first Notre Dame men’s tennis player ever to conclude a four-year career having never seen his team drop a match in the BIG EAST tournament. Earlier this month, he was the Midwest Region’s recipient of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA)/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship award for “exhibiting outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular, and tennis achievements.” Now he has the opportunity to become just the second Notre Dame men’s tennis player ever – after Andy Zurcher (1994) – to be named a CoSIDA Academic All-American.

D’Amico was named to the Dean’s List in seven of his eight collegiate semesters. A member of the Academic Honors Program at Notre Dame, he is a two-time recipient of the ITA Scholar-Athlete Award. He has been named the team’s top academic performer in both of the last two years, winning the Knute Rockne Student-Athlete Award, presented by the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley. Also a two-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star, D’Amico has been active in volunteer work, both as an after-school tutor at the Robinson Community Learning Center and at the Logan Center, a residence for people with disabilities.

D’Amico was a four-year starter for the Irish, playing mostly at No. 1 doubles and in the top half of the singles lineup over the last three seasons. He finished with a 47-42 career record in singles and a 60-55 mark in doubles, with 30 of those victories coming in dual matches at No. 1. He is just the fifth player in the last 25 years to be a two-year captain for the Irish. D’Amico has been ranked as high as 44th in the nation in doubles, as well as 99th in singles. The 2002-03 team MVP, he holds the Notre Dame record for career clinching victories in doubles action (21). He owns eight career victories (five singles, three doubles) over nationally-ranked opponents, highlighted by upsets of #50 in singles and #26 in doubles.

Davis, one of just six non-seniors to be recognized, has been named to the Dean’s List in five of his six collegiate semesters and is a member of Notre Dame’s Academic Honors Program for Student-Athletes. Enrolled in the College of Engineering, he has twice been named a BIG EAST Academic All-Star and spent last summer working in a robotics lab.

In the pool, Davis was an all-conference selection and the BIG EAST runner-up in the 1,650-yard freestyle in 2004, just missing the University record in that event. He ranks among the top five swimmers in Notre Dame history in that race (3rd, career-best 15:34.41), as well as the 1,000 (4th, 9:23.23) and 500 freestyle (5th, 4:28.89). Davis currently holds three of the top eight times in program history in the 1,000 free, as well as the fourth-fastest mile mark. He was the team leader in both of the longest two races in his first two years of collegiate competition. Last summer, he was the 1,500-meter champion in the Indiana Senior State Long-Course Championships.

This season, Davis was a key to Notre Dame winning its first BIG EAST championship, finishing with a 10-2 record, and earning its first-ever national ranking (finished 21st). He was 10th on the team in points scored in individual events (174) and ninth in race victories in individual action (5). Davis ended up third on the Irish in the 1,000 free (season-best 9:25.02), as well as fourth in the 500 (4:32.20) and 1,650 free (15:48.60). He finished sixth in the mile at the BIG EAST meet in 2005 and has been among the top six in each of his three seasons. He also scored points in the 500 free for the second straight year, ending up 11th. Among his race victories, perhaps the most important was his triumph in the 1,000 free that helped the Irish to an upset of eight-time defending conference champion Pittsburgh in November. Davis also turned in the second-fastest unshaved 1,000 free time in Irish history in January and one day later broke the Reilly Center Pool (at St. Bonaventure) record in the 500 free (4:38.80).

2004-05 CoSIDA Academic All-District V University Division Men's At-Large TeamName, sport, school, year, hometown, GPA, major(s)FIRST TEAMGuillermo Alvarez, gymnastics, Minnesota, Sr., Denver, Colo., 3.84, PsychologyBrent D'Amico, tennis, Notre Dame, Sr., Castle Rock, Colo., 3.758, FinanceShane Hoelz, skiing, Wisconsin-Green Bay, Sr., Wales, Wis., 3.932,Chemistry/Human BiologySteven Johns, ice hockey, Minnesota State-Mankato, Sr., Cranbrook, B.C., 3.84,International BusinessPeter Jonsson, ice hockey, Bemidji State, Sr., Astorp, Sweden, 3.97,Business AdministrationChris Martin, tennis, Illinois, Sr., Tulsa, Okla., 3.82, FinanceJustin Mortimer, swimming, Minnesota, Sr., Milton, Mass., 3.43, PhysicsLouis Paul, swimming, Purdue, Sr., Sydney, Australia, 3.76, Management/AccountingAlex Tirapelle, wrestling, Illinois, Jr., Bloomington, Ill, 3.72, AccountancyEvan West, tennis, Butler, So., Greenwood, Ind., 3.94, ChemistrySECOND TEAMMarc Carlton, swimming, Indiana, Sr., Webster, N.Y., 3.5413,Computer Science/Audiology TechnologyPatrick Davis, swimming, Notre Dame, Jr., Clearwater, Fla., 3.746,Engineering Computer ScienceAndrew Murray, ice hockey, Bemidji State, Sr., Selkirk, Manitoba, 3.62,Business AdministrationBen Newman, gymnastics, Illinois, Sr., Denver, Colo., 3.638, Business/FinanceAlexandru Nomicos, tennis, Southern Illinois, Sr., Targoviste, Romania, 4.00, FinanceGiordan Pogioli, swimming, Purdue, Jr., Peoria, Ill., 3.76, Computer Graphics TechnologyNate Raduns, ice hockey, St. Cloud State, So., Sauk Rapids, Minn., 3.91, EconomicsLukasz Soswa, tennis, Southern Illinois, Sr., Surrey, B.C., 3.93, Pre-MedicineJustin Wenger, golf, IUPUI, So., Indianapolis, Ind., 3.913, Mechanical EngineeringEric Wiesner, swimming, Wisconsin, Sr., Montrose, Colo., 3.52,Medical Micro Biology & Immunology