Sports

Prister: Despite all the talk, it's too early to judge (Feb. 2)

Disappointing? Yes. But a disappointment? Absolutely not.

Chris Brown

WR, ****, 180 pounds, 6-2

SMC Basketball: Belles look for payback against rival Albion

A clear, unwavering focus is the Belles' top priority at this point in the season.

Owens: Eliminating the DH is an overdue change (Feb. 1)

What would I do if I were sports dictator for a day?

ND Women's Basketball: Pounding in Piscataway

Notre Dame capped its final game in January just as it opened the year — blowing out its opponent en route to a road victory. In fact, Notre Dame dispatched all of its opponents in January, cruising to a perfect 9-0 record for the month.

ND Women's Swimming: Training trip to Hawaii builds team chemistry

Collegiate winter breaks can put college swimming teams at a disadvantage with over a month between meets and much time out of the pool. To prevent this lag time from hurting team performance, most programs take one to two week training trips to warm weather climates. Notre Dame is no exception, as the team travelled to Hawaii for its annual 11-day training excursion.

ND Women's Tennis: Louderback commits to doubles improvement

Any member of the Irish women's tennis team will tell you that doubles matches play a huge role in determining the winner of a dual match.

Hockey: Dynamic duo represent ND

Two of Notre Dame's best skaters competed on a world stage over winter break, as sophomores T.J. Tynan and Stephen Johns represented Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Alberta, Canada. Tynan and Johns helped lead the United States to a seventh-place finish.

Men's Tennis: Freshman adjusts well to team play

Freshman Wyatt McCoy's recent transition from high school athletics to college competition has been more seamless than expected from the average first-year experience.

Men's Track and Field: Irish relay dominates Big East

The 4x400-meter relay is traditionally featured as the final event on the docket of a Track meet, showcasing the finest qualities of teamwork and often providing fans with a thrilling ending to the day. With four wins in four events this season, the Irish have consistently ended meets on a positive note.

DeFranks: Eliminating those silly, useless all-star games (Jan. 31)

Imagine if we took the students on the Dean's list, packed their stuff up, sent them to another city with a college and had them take classes. Sounds reasonable enough, right? Except these classes do not count and their professors do not care.

ND Women's Swimming and Diving: Ryan's victories guide team

Sophomore Kelly Ryan's four victories at Michigan State on Jan. 21 helped propel her team to a 218-82 victory to break Notre Dame's four-match losing streak and earned her the honor of being last week's Big East Swimmer of the Week.

Men's Swimming and Diving: Coach strives to train swimmers' bodies, spirits

ND Women's Basketball: Standing their ground

The Irish are one win away from keeping January clean of losses for the first time in 10 years. A win also moves their win streak up to 19 games as they play their eighth ranked opponent this season, No. 12 Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., on Tuesday.

Club Sports: Synchronized skaters grab gold, accolades

The Synchronized Skating Team won the gold medal Saturday at the Midwestern Synchronized Skating Championships in Plymouth, Michigan.  The first place finish is the second year in a row that Notre Dame has won its most important competition of the year, placing at the top of eight other collegiate teams from the Midwest.  Miami of Ohio, previously undefeated this season, and Ohio University earned the 2nd and 3rd place medals for the division.

Track and Field: Indiana Relays to add prep time for Big East

Coming off an impressive performance in the Notre Dame Invitational, the Irish travel to Bloomington, Ind., for the Indiana Relays this weekend.

ND Women's Swimming and Diving: Irish host Shamrock Invitational to close home season

After dominating Michigan State at home last weekend, the Irish will compete at Rolfs Aquatic Center for the last time this season when they host the annual Shamrock Invitational this weekend.

Hockey: Irish take long journey to face tough Alaskan competition

No. 4 Notre Dame has cooled off recently, following up a four-game winning streak by losing three of its last four. This weekend, the team travels to take on Alaska's notoriously stingy defense in a pair of important conference games.

Gans: The good, the bad and the ugly of Twitter use (Jan. 27)

Sports often bring out the best and worst in people. Moments of triumph, personal goals being achieved and the unity of a passionate fan base are just some of the things that help make the nature of these competitive contests so special. But at the same time, inappropriate conduct and poor sportsmanship from athletes and over-the-top behavior from fans can signify a more disturbing side.

Gastelum: Don't get sick with Lob City Disorder (Jan. 26)

If Albert Pujols went to the Mets, would that make the Mets automatically better than the Yankees?