April 6, 1998
Steve Noble Is Top Student-Athlete Honored for Academic Excellence
Irish senior hockey captain Steve Noble earned top honors tonight at the sixth annual Academic Excellence Awards Dinner organized by the University of Notre Dame's Office of Academic Services for Student-Athletes and sponsored by the Athletic Department.
The dinner, held in the concourse of the Joyce Center, honored the 317 student-athletes who possess a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average or higher. Also honored were the student-athletes on each varsity team with the highest cumulative GPA (trainers, managers and cheerleaders included), plus the teams with the highest combined GPAs in each semester.
Dr. Carolyn Woo--first-year dean of the College of Business Administration--served as guest speaker.
Noble, a finance major from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, was honored as the graduating senior with the highest cumulative GPA (3.952). The first three-year captain in Irish hockey history, Noble recently was named to the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America District V Fall/Winter At-Large team and is now eligible for national honors to be announced later this month (he was a national second-team pick in '97).
A Rhodes Scholar finalist, Noble ranks among the top five students in the College of Business Administration. One of 12 Notre Dame students to receive the Campus Leadership Award in 1997, he was one of five national finalists for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. He has been a Dean's List student all seven semesters at Notre Dame.
Eleven athletes were cited for earning 4.0 grade-point averages during the '97 spring semester -- Cindy Harding (cheerleading, junior, Naperville, Ill.), Matt Hysell (fencing, senior, Midland, Mich.), Jeffrey Connell (golf, sophomore, Lacrosse, Wisc.), Holly Michael (lacrosse, ), Phil Murphy (soccer, junior, Brentwood, Tenn.), Ry Beville (swimming, '97 graduate), Courtney Haskell (tennis, junior, Oneida, N.Y.), Caroline Sowa (trainer, '97 graduate), Alison Klemmer (track, sophomore, Troy, Mich.), Kelly Peterson (track, junior, Escondido, Calif.) and Valerie Siqueira (track, sophomore, Mishawaka, Ind.).
Reaching the 4.0 mark in the '97 fall semester were Carrie Marshall (lacrosse, freshman, Colorado Springs, Colo.), Jen Giampaolo (softball, senior, San Marino, Calif.), Steve Cardwell (swimming, senior, Marietta, Ga.), Andy Warford (tennis, junior, Bismarck, N.D.), Ben Perossa (trainer, sophomore, Savannah, Ga.), Nate Andrulonis (track, freshman, Pittsburgh, Pa.), Chris Utz (track, junior, Jacksonville, Fla.), Harding, Murphy, Haskell and Peterson.
Freshmen or transfers with the highest cumulative GPA included Andrulonis, Marshall and Megan Glah (track, freshman, Bedford, Pa.).
The teams with the highest combined GPAs were women's lacrosse in the spring '97 semester at 3.271 and women's track in the fall '97 semester at 3.224.
Here are the individuals with the top cumulative GPAs by sport (must have achieved upper-class status):
* Baseball Jeff Perconte Sophomore Arlington Heights, IL
* Men's Basketball Pat Garrity Senior Monument, CO
* Women's Basketball Diana Braendly Junior Staten Island, NY
* Cheerleading Cindy Harding Junior Naperville, IL
* Men's Fencing Steve Kane Sophomore Cincinnati, OH
* Women's Fencing Nicole Paulina Junior South Orange, NJ
* Football Phil Sicuso Junior Hopkinton, MA
* Men's Golf Jeff Connell Sophomore Lacrosse, WI
* Women's Golf Beth Cooper Sophomore Kalamazoo, MI
* Hockey Steve Noble Senior Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
* Men's Lacrosse Steve Fiamingo Sophomore Cincinnati, OH
* Women's Lacrosse Holly Michael Senior Aliquippa, PA
* Managers Jim Brockmole Junior Dauphin, PA
* Softball Kelly Nichols Senior Vancouver, WA
* Men's Soccer Phil Murphy Junior Brentwood, TN
* Women's Soccer Jen Streiffer Sophomore Baton Rouge, LA
* Men's Swimming Ray Fitzpatrick Sophomore Doylestown, PA
* Women's Swimming Rhiana Saunders Sophomore The Woodlands, TX
* Men's Tennis Andy Warford Junior Bismarck, ND
* Women's Tennis Courtney Haskell Junior Oneida, NY
* Men's Track Kevin Reher Senior Sarasota, FL
* Women's Track Valerie Siqueira Sophomore Mishawaka, IN
* Trainers Ben Perossa Sophomore Savannah, GA
* Volleyball Carey May Senior Rancho Santa Fe, CA
