Avery Zuck Class: Junior Hometown: Beaverton, OR High School: Jesuit Height / Weight: 6-2 / 185 Event: Sabre Birthdate: 02/22/1989 Club: Oregon Fencing Alliance

One of Notre Dame's latest additions to its "Portland Pipeline," as an elite fencer from the Oregon Fencing Alliance sabre academy, where he has trained under former Notre Dame assistant coach Ed Korfanty ... joins classmates Sarah Borrmann and Eileen Hassett - plus senior Bill Thanhouser - as OFA fencers on Notre Dame's current team ... two other OFA products, Patrick Ghattas and Valerie Providenza, were four-year All-Americans with the Irish from 2004-07 ... combines a tall frame with long arms, innate speed and quick thinking on the strip ... a very talented competitor, both technically and tactically ... had impressive result at the Junior World Cup in Sosnowiec, Poland (Oct. '07), placing 15th among a top field of 115 U-20 fencers ... was knocked out of that tournament by the eventual champion (Massimiliano Murolo of Italy) ... placed 26th in the U-20 bouting at the North American Cup held in Dallas (Nov. '07) ... formerly a nationally-ranked youth racquetball player who was able to transition skills from that sport (such as hand-eye coordination and mental toughness) into his fencing approach ... could emerge as one of the NCAA's top contenders for the men's sabre title, as he gains experience on the 2008 Junior World Cup circuit entering the dual season ... also owns an FIE U-20 world ranking of 12th (as of 12/4/08) ... finished fifth at the Junior World Cup event held in Dormagen, Germany in November of 2008 ... also finished sixth at the October 2008 Junior World Cup event held in Montréal, Canada ... had an impressive 11th-place finish (field of 56) in his first Junior World Cup of the season (in Odessa, Ukraine; Sept. '06) ... competed in November of 2006 at Junior World Cups in Ariccia, Italy (23rd; field of 98), and Dormagen, Germany (65th of 133) ... opened 2007 with impressive sixthplace showing among 136 fencers at the Junior World Cup in Budapest ... competed in the Las Vegas Senior Grand Prix (June '07) and placed 67th among sabre fencers from all age groups (field of 99) ... also competed at several USFA events in the 2006-07 season, starting with the North American Cup in Albuquerque, N.M. (19th in the U-20 bouts; field of 155; Nov. '06) ... competed the next month at the N.A.C. in Richmond, Va., versus a talented overall men's sabre field of 103 that included four current/future ND fencers among the top-30 finishers (Thanhouser 8th, Ghattas 22nd, Zuck 27th, Nydam 30th; no U-20 bouting) ... went on to place 40th out of 141 total men's sabreists at another elite-level N.A.C., in Columbus, Ohio (Jan. '07; also 33rd out of 133 in U-20 competition) and then was 18th out of 97 total men's sabre entrants at the N.A.C. in Tucson, Ariz.

AS A FRESHMAN: Had an impressive regular season (39-8) before finishing seventh at the NCAA Midwest Regional ... started his year with a 15-3 showing at the NYU duals ... finished 15-5 at the Northwestern Duals ... went undefeated at the Notre Dame Duals, compiling a 9-0 record ... entered the Midwest Conference Championships as a #4 seed before going on to earn second team all-conference honors ... went 3-2 in the pool-play portion of the NCAA Midwest Regional to earn a fifth seed heading into the d i r e c t - e l i m i n a t i o n portion of the tournament ... advanced to the finals of the direct elimination portion with a 15-2 win over Detroit's Doug Sollman and a 15- 13 win over Ohio State's Dexter Wilde ... then lost to Wilde in the quarterfinal (15-14) and Ohio State's Mike Momtselidze in the consolation bracket before beating Lawrence's Nils Schaede in the seventh place match (15- 8).

PREP & PERSONAL: Attended Jesuit High School while training for six years at the Oregon Fencing Alliance ... had been a nationally-ranked racquetball player before transitioning to fencing as a seventh grader ... has been nationally ranked in fencing since the 10th grade ... took a stab at the senior-level competition during a North American Cup held in Sacramento (April '06) and had a solid placing of 27th at that event ... also placed 15th in the U-19 sabre bouts at 2006 Summer Nationals ... born Feb. 22, 1989, in Portland, Ore. ... son of Jeremy Zuck and Anita Wentworth ... full name is Avery John Zuck ... enrolled in the Mendoza College of Business.