April 21, 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior STEVE NOBLE (Sault Ste Marie, Ontario), a member of the Notre Dame ice hockey team, and women’s soccer player JENNY STREIFFER (Baton Rouge, La.), a sophomore, were first team selections to the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America Fall/Winter At-Large, while men’s soccer player RYAN TURNER (Scottsdale, Ariz.), a senior, was a third team honoree.

NOBLE, the first Irish hockey player to earn Academic All-America honors, is a repeat selection in 1998 after earning second team honors a year ago. STREIFFER’s appearance on the first team marks the second consecutive year that a Notre Dame women’s soccer player was named to the first team and the third straight year that the Irish women’s soccer program has produced at least one Academic All-American. TURNER is the second Academic All-American in the history of the men’s soccer program.

The selection of the three brings Notre Dame’s total Academic All-America total to five for the 1997-98 school year. Last year, 12 Irish athletes earned Academic All-America accolades, the most ever in a single academic school year at Notre Dame, and the most by any school during the 1996-97 campaign.

Steve Noble became the first Irish hockey player to earn Academic All-America honors.

NOBLE owns a 3.952 grade point average and will graduate in May with a degree in finance. The first three-year captain in the program’s history, the senior helped the Irish to an 18-19-4 mark during the 1997-98 campaign while contributing 25 points.

A Rhodes Scholar finalist, NOBLE’s GPA ranks among the top five in Notre Dame’s Business School. He also was one of 12 Notre Dame students to receive the Campus Leadership Award in 1997, and in addition, was first runner-up for the national Hockey Humanitarian Award. NOBLE has been named to the Dean’s List during all seven semesters he has been at Notre Dame.

STREIFFER tied for team-high scoring honors and ranked among the top 10 nationally in scoring with 20 goals and 18 assists in 1997. She started 22 of 23 games for the Irish who finished the season with a 23-1-1 record while advancing to the NCAA national semifinals for the fourth consecutive year.

A midfielder, STREIFFER is the quickest Notre Dame women’s soccer player to reach the 100-point plateau and in 49 career games has 1214 career points. She tied a Notre Dame and BIG EAST record with four goals versus Georgetown this past season. As a freshman, she earned All-America honors from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

A member of the U.S. national program and an alternate on the 1996 Olympic team, STREIFFER was one of 15 finalists for the ’97 Missouri Athletic Club national player of the year. She also holds the Irish school mark for consecutive games — 11 — with either a goal or an assist.

Ryan Turner led the Irish in scoring last season.

She is enrolled in the pre-professional studies program and has a 3.492 grade point average following three semesters.

TURNER was the leading scorer on the Irish men’s soccer team as he finished with 12 goals and five assists (29 points). A forward, he has three game-winning goals in 1997 and recorded his first career hat trick in Notre Dame’s 4-3 overtime victory over TCU. A co-captain in 1997, TURNER, who helped the Irish to a 10-9-2 record, garnered second team all-BIG EAST honors and was a second-team NSCAA Mideast Region honoree.

He will graduate in May from the College of Business Administration with a degree in finance. TURNER was a member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Star team for the 1996-97 school year and has earned Dean’s List distinction all seven semesters.