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Staff Directory

Mike Karwoski Associate Athletics Director (574) 631-4107 Charmelle Green Assistant Athletics Director (574) 631-9367 Harold Swanagan Coordinator (574) 631-5499 Chris Zorich Manager (574) 631-9377 University of Notre Dame Department of Athletics 113 Joyce Center Notre Dame, IN 46556

University of Notre Dame Athletic Department Student Welfare and Development

Student Welfare and Development (SWD)
Student Welfare and Development (SWD) is committed to the total development of Notre Dame student-athletes and fosters the cultivation of skills that prepare student-athletes for the ultimate competitive challenge-LIFE. SWD implements programs and activities designed to facilitate learning within five key areas: academic excellence, athletic success, career preparation, personal development, and community involvement.

Academic Excellence
Student Welfare and Development (SWD) is just one of many resources throughout campus that provide student-athletes with the best opportunities to succeed academically. With assistance from the Monogram Club, SWD is able to provide laptop computers for student-athlete use while traveling. The computer checkout program continues to be an important resource for student-athlete academic success. SWD also provided several seminars and informational material during the 2007/08 academic year, assisting student-athletes in the area of public speaking and time management.

Each year student-athletes are honored at the Student Welfare and Development's Outstanding Students Celebrating Achievements and Recognitions Showcase for their academic achievements. The following student-athletes were the recipients of the Byron V. Kanaley, 4.0 Club, Top Gun and/or Team Highest Grade Point Average awards.

Byron V. Kanaley Award:
First presented in 1927, the Byron V. Kanaley Award is the most prestigious honor bestowed upon a student-athlete. Byron V. Kanaley, a former member of the Irish baseball team, graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1904. Kanaley led a successful banking career in Chicago and served as a lay trustee of the University until his death in 1960. The Kanaley Award recognizes senior monogram winners who have excelled as both students and leaders.

Byron V. Kanaley Award recipients:
Rachel Cota- Women's Fencing Greg Howard- Men's Fencing Katie Laing- Softball Adrianna Stasiuk- Volleyball Dan VeNard- Hockey

4.0 Club:
Members of the 4.0 Club received a 4.0 semester grade point average in the spring 2007 and/or fall 2007 semesters.

4.0 Club members:
Kevin Braun- Cheerleading
Ann Mazur- Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Sunni Olding- Women's Cross Country/ Track & Field
Heidi Rocha- Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
Erica Watson-Women's Cross Country/Track & Field

Academic Excellence

Byron V. Kanaley Award recipient Rachel Cota

Byron V. Kanaley Award recipient Dan VeNard

Byron V. Kanaley Award recipient Katie Laing

Byron V. Kanaley Award recipient Adrianna Stasiuk

Top Gun Award recipient Sunni Olding

Francis Patrick O'Connor Award recipient Sheeva Parbhu

Francis Patrick O'Connor Award recipient Brook Buck

Francis Patrick O'Connor Award recipient Caitlin McKinney

Career Presentations

Notre Dame Career Fair

Professional Development Networking

Dinner at Shamrock Hills

Dinner at Shamrock Hills

Personal Development

TROPHY Award Winning Men's Lacrosse Team

Christopher Zorich Award recipient Mary Kate McNamara

2008 O.S.C.A.R.S

Spencer Carter- Men's Cross Country/Track & Field
John Daly-Men's Cross Country/Track & Field
James Notwell- Men's Cross Country/ Track & Field
Ryan Bradley- Fencing
Thomas Horton- Fencing
Michael Anello- Football
Wade Iams- Football
Kristin Hopson-Women's Lacrosse
Meghan Murphy- Women's Lacrosse
Daniel Schmitt- Men's Lacrosse
Elaine Amoresano- Rowing
Erica Copeland- Rowing
Ashley Jones- Women's Soccer
Susan Pinnick-Women's Soccer
Erin Marrone- Softball
Christopher Douville- Men's Swimming & Diving
Samual Stoner- Men's Swimming & Diving
William Davis- Men's Tennis
Colleen Rielley- Women's Tennis

Team Highest Grade Point Average:
Spring 2007- Volleyball
The volleyball team received a semester GPA of 3.373. Two members were named Academic All-District, and three members made the Dean's List.

Fall 2007- Women's Tennis
Women's tennis received a semester GPA of 3.460 and were honored in 2007 for their academic success by being named an ITA All-Academic Team. Three members were named ITA Scholar Athletes, and three members made the Dean's List.

Top Gun Award:
The Top Gun Award is given annually to a graduating senior with the highest cumulative grade point average, and who has competed on an intercollegiate team for at least three years.

Top Gun Award recipients:
Sunni Olding- Women's Cross Country/Track & Field

Sunni earned a 4.0 grade point average in five out of the eight semesters completed at Notre Dame. She had a cumulative grape point average of 3.981.

Athletic Success:
Student Welfare and Development and the Notre Dame Counseling Center have worked closely to provide resources that assist student-athletes in reaching their highest potential athletically. Through leadership development and performance enhancement training, student-athletes learned throughout the 2007/08 academic year the importance of developing the mental and leadership skills essential to athletic success.

Eighty five student-athletes representing 25 of the 26 athletic teams, cheerleading and student manager groups participated in the 2008 Richard Rosenthal Student-Athlete Leadership Institute. Participants of the leadership institute are selected by coaching staffs, team members, and the Student Welfare and Development staff.

The 2008 Richard Rosenthal Student Athlete Leadership Institute was led by Jeff Janssen, author of several books on peak performance, team building, and leadership. His books Championship Team Building, The Seven Secrets of Successful Coaches and The Team Captain's Leadership Manual have received rave reviews from coaches around the world. He has produced workbooks including Jeff Janssen's Peak Performance Playbook and The Mental Makings of Champions.

The leadership institute was also led by Dr. Steve Sobel, a nationally recognized speaker, educator and author of the Good Times Handbook: Your Guide to Positive Living and an Exciting Life.

2007/08 Richard Rosenthal Leadership Institute Participants:
Men's Cross Country/Track & Field- Brett Adams
Women's Cross Country/Track & Field- Becca Bauman, Emily Wauford, Heidi Rocha, and Molly Sullivan.
Cheerleading- Jenny Antonellie, Craig Bentzen, Dave Wilkerson, Michael Cirone, Kelsey Ingram, Kate Tooher, and Je'Rell Rogers.
Men's Fencing- John Plunkett
Football- David Bruton, James Clausen, Maurice Crum, and David Grimes.
Men's Golf- Kyle Willis, Doug Fortner, Carl Ocampo, and Batista Olavo.
Women's Golf- Kristin Wetzel, Katie Conway, and Alejandra Diaz-Calderon.
Hockey- Erik Condra, Christian Hanson, Kyle Lawson, Garrett Regan and Ryan Thang.
Men's Lacrosse-Alex Wharton, Ross Zimmerman, Joey Kemp, Kelly McKenna and Scott Rodgers.
Women's Lacrosse- Alicia Billings and Beth Koloup.
Rowing- Christine Trezza, Lauren Buck, Allison Marsh, Kelsey Otero, Laura Pearson, Amanda Polk and Stephanie Szegedi.
Men's Soccer-Matt Besler, Jack Traynor, Alex Yoshinaga, Kyhle Dagan, Bright Dike, and Terry Lee.
Women's Soccer-Carrie Dew, and Kerri Hanks.
Softball- Ashley Ellis, Stephanie Mola, and Beth Northway.
Men's Swimming & Diving- Michael Bulfin, Matt LeBlanc, Danny Lutkus and John Lytle
Women's Swimming & Diving-Lucy Hirt, Casey Wagner, Ashlee Edgell and Megan Farrell.
Men's Track & Field-Austin Wechter, Greg Davis, Jeff Mensch and Tray Morgan.
Women's Track & Field-Anna Weber, Rikki London, and Joanna Schultz.
Volleyball- Malorie Croal, Christina Kaelin, Jamel Nicholas and Justine Stremick.

Francis Patrick O'Connor Award:
The Francis Patrick O'Connor Award was established to recognize the contributions of one male and one female Notre Dame student-athlete who display the true spirit of Notre Dame as exemplified by their contributions and inspirations to their respective teams. Conferring this award in O'Connor's name recognizes those qualities attributed to Pat himself: caring, courage, confidence, encouragement, humility, honesty, humor, kindness and patience.

2007/08 Francis Patrick O'Connor Award recipients:

Sheeva Parbhu- Men's Tennis
Sheeva Parbhu took his place among the all-time greats in the history of Notre Dame Tennis. He reached the quarter finals of the NCAA Championships in 2006, the first Notre Dame player to do so since 1959. Parbhu was named an ITA All-American, and Team MVP.

Caitlin McKinney- Women's Lacrosse
Caitlin McKinney was recognized as one of the Nations top lacrosse players. She was a three time All-American, a nominee for the prestigious Tewaaraton Trophy, recipient of the Big East Scholar-Athlete Sports Excellence Award, and ESPN The Magazine's/CoSIDA District Five Second Team All-Academic At-Large Squad.

McKinney was a member of the United States Women's Lacrosse Developmental Team from 2005-07, ranked in the top three in all offensive categories for her career in an Irish uniform. She was a two time captain and she was selected as Notre Dame's female Big East/Aeropostale Scholar-Athlete Award winner.

Brook Buck- Women's Tennis
Brook Buck was named captain of the 2007-08 tennis team. She took her responsibilities very seriously and provided excellent leadership both on and off the court. On the court, Buck played in the #2 and #3 position in the singles line-up. She and doubles partner Kelcy Tefft won the ITA National Indoors Championship, providing Notre Dame with its 2nd National title ever in women's tennis history. They held the #1 spot for several weeks during Buck's senior season. During her career, Brook was named ITA All-American and four times to the Big East All-Tournament Team.

CAREER PREPARATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Throughout the 2007/08 academic year, Student Welfare and Development (SWD) worked closely with the Notre Dame Career Center to provide student-athletes career development workshops in resume composition, interviewing preparation, networking, career fair preparation, dining etiquette, public speaking, and financial planning.

The workshops were facilitated by representatives from The General Electric Company, Goldman Sachs & Co., Stryker Medical, The Monogram Club, The Speaking Specialists, and The Career Center. These programs provided valuable skills complementary to career preparation.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The majority of the programs provided by Student Welfare and Development (SWD) fall under personal development. SWD provided over 50 educational seminars to student-athletes throughout the 2007/08 academic year.

Working with the Office of Student Affairs and the Counseling Center, Student Welfare and Development provided during the 2007/08 academic year important programs on sexual assault education, harm reduction and safety, and alcohol and drug awareness education.

Personal development programs are designed to assist student-athletes in making healthy choices, as well as, educating student-athletes on the campus resources that are available to assist them in accomplishing goals.

Orientation for first year student-athletes, Positive Transition Seminars, leadership development, alcohol and drug education, public speaking, dining etiquette, financial planning, Professors at Practice, international student-athlete social, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the spiritual retreat, are a few of the personal development programs that were provided to student-athletes in 2007-08.

Over 500 first year student-athletes and parents attended orientation held at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. The presenters at the orientation for Student-Athletes included members of the Athletics Department, Office of the President, Faculty Board on Athletics, Sports Medicine, Monogram Club, Alumni Association, First Year of Studies, and Academic Services for Student-Athletes.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes bi-weekly gatherings increased in participation by 60%, averaging 60 participants per gathering. Throughout the year, student-athlete leaders participating in Fellowship of Christian Athletes organized prayer walks, social events, team prayers, and lectures pertinent to the student-athlete experience.

Over 500 faculty and family members attended the 2007 Professors at Practice for football. At the event, professors are provided lunch, and given the opportunity to view practice.

The personal development programs were facilitated by a variety of notable speakers such as, Sports Analyst Stephen A. Smith, ESPN; Media Coach Don Yeager, 180 Communications; Career Coach Scott McGowan, Aftersport Group; Chief Executive Officer Francis Taylor, The General Electric Company; Speech Coach Sue Casterino and Randy Minkoff, The Speaking Specialists; Professor Richard Pierce, University Notre Dame; and Psychologist Miguel Franco, University of Notre Dame.

STUDENT-ATHLETE ADVISORY COUNCIL (SAAC):
The 2007/08 Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) consisted of student-athlete leaders from all 26 athletic teams, cheerleaders, and managers. The representatives were selected by coaches, Student Welfare and Development (SWD) staff, and program directors.

The Student-Athlete Advisory Council met once a month to discuss critical issues that affect the experiences of student-athletes. The topics included NCAA legislation, career opportunities, networking, hazing, and healthy nutrition. The group initiated new programming ideas, participated in community service projects, and acted as the student-athlete group liaison to athletic administration.

The 2007/08 SAAC continued the success of the Sportsmanship Across All Circumstances, a program that was developed by SAAC in 2006. The student-athlete leaders promoted sportsmanship at local elementary schools and community centers. The message delivered to youth was centered on building character and respect for self and others, while upholding good spirited values. The group expressed the importance of leading, inspiring and making moral sound decisions.

The Student-Athlete Advisory Council assisted the YMCA and South Bend Parks & Recreation in the development of Fit for Fun, a program designed to fight childhood obesity through adopting healthy eating habits, and active lifestyles. SAAC organized and operated the activities provided to the participants. Over 150 youth from South Bend participated in the event. The program was sponsored by Saint Joseph Hospital and McDonalds.

2007/08 SAAC Participants
Baseball- Sean Gaston, Jeremy Barnes
Men's Basketball- Ryan Ayers
Women's Basketball- Tulyah Gaines
Cheerleading- Je'Rell Rogers
Men's Cross Country- Brett Adams
Women's Cross Country- Heidi Rocha
Men's Fencing- Bill Thanhouser
Women's Fencing- Ashley Serrette
Football- Evan Sharpley
Men's Golf- Kyle Willis
Women's Golf- Alejandra Diaz-Calderon
Hockey- Dan VeNard
International Students-Athletes- Natalie Burke
Men's Lacrosse- Ryan Hoff, Kevin Cullinane
Women's Lacrosse-Maggie Zentgraf
Managers-Amanda Caravalho
Rowing- Lauren Buck, Laura Pearson
Men's Soccer- Tamba Samba
Women's Soccer- Carrie Dew
Softball- Stephanie Mola
Men's Swimming- Danny Lutkus
Women's Swimming- Casey Wagner
Men's Tennis- Sheeva Parbhu
Women's Tennis- Brook Buck
Men's Track & Field- Austin Wechter
Women's Track & Field- Katie Jannazo
Volleyball- Mallorie Croal

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:
Since 1999, student-athlete participation in community service has steadily increased. During the 2007/08 academic year, student-athletes completed over 4500 hours of community service, a considerable increase from the previous year. An astonishing 100% of percent of the teams participated in community service, reaching over 5,000 people in the local and national communities, and assisting over 50 non-profit organizations and agencies.

For the fifth consecutive year Student Welfare and Development was named to the National Consortium for Academic and Sports Outreach and Community Service Honor Roll.

THE TROPHY Award
The Trophy Award was established in 2006 by the Office of Student Welfare and Development, to recognize the team that has demonstrated a commitment to the community through their unparalleled service to Notre Dame and South Bend.

2007/08 The Trophy Award recipient-
Men's Lacrosse:

The men's lacrosse team completed 1,087 hours, reaching eight non-profit organizations.

The team volunteered in the Bike for Uganda, Fit for Fun, South Bend Reads, Walk for Diabetes, Memorial Hospital's Hematology/Oncology Christmas Party, and the toiletry drive for the South Bend Center for the Homeless. The team was most known for their service as mentors to youth at one of South Bend's most challenging schools.

CHRISTOPHER ZORICH AWARD
Named after the 1991 graduate Christopher Zorich who founded the Christopher Zorich Foundation in 1993, which has six charitable programs that offer diverse community support. This award recognizes student-athletes who study for the sake of learning, give for the sake of giving, and understand that personal accomplishment is never achieved alone.

2007-08 Christopher Zorich Award recipients:
Dan Scolaro, Hockey and Mary Kate McNamara, rowing.

Scolaro and McNamara completed over 150 hours of service during the 2007/08 academic year, assisting over 10 non-profit organizations. Scolaro and McNamara were walk-ons who developed into major contributors to their teams' success.

O.S.C.A.R.S.
(Outstanding Students Celebrating Achievements & Recognitions Showcase)

• 2008 O.S.C.A.R.S. Photos
• 2007 O.S.C.A.R.S. Photos

The O.S.C.A.R.S. is the marquee social-celebratory event for the department of athletics. Created by the Student-Athlete Advisory Council and Student Welfare and Development, the O.S.C.A.R.S. was established to showcase the many accomplishments of Notre Dame student-athletes. In its seventh year, the red-carpet gala served to unite all students, administrators, and faculty involved in Fighting Irish athletics.

The 2008 event was attended by a more than 1500 student-athletes, administrators, faculty and staff. Over 75 student-athletes, representing 19 of the 26 athletic teams, cheerleaders and managers participated in the showcase by presenting awards, and performing live on stage or in video clips.