Dec. 5, 2011

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame women’s lacrosse coach Christine Halfpenny, who is preparing to begin her inaugural season as head coach of the Irish women’s lacrosse program, has announced the signing of 10 high school lacrosse players to national letters-of-intent. They will attend the University beginning in the fall of 2012.

Brie Custis

Signing letters-of-intent in the early-signing period are: Brie Custis (Salisbury, Md.), Hannah Hartman (Cockeysville, Md.), Danielle Lukish (Lutherville, Md.), Katherine McManus (Sharon, Mass.), Kiera McMullan (West Nyack, N.Y.), Stephanie Peragallo (Hauppauge, N.Y.), Michele Phillips (Alexandria, Va.), Austin Pruitt (Richmond, Va.), Rachel Sexton (Sudbury, Mass.) and Stephanie Toy (Moorestown, N.J.).

In making the announcement, Halfpenny said, “I am thrilled with the addition of these 10 outstanding student-athletes. Individually, they each have strong leadership skills combined with extremely competitive personalities. This class brings speed, athleticism and skill at each field position. Already this group has achieved high levels of success in the classroom and on the field. They are strong members of their respective communities and we are excited for them to make an immediate impact on our lacrosse program on the field, in the classroom and in the community.”

Danielle Lukish (left) and Hannah Hartman (right)

Brie Custis is a 5-10 midfielder out of Parkside High School in Salisbury, Md., where she lettered each of her four seasons. A three-time, all-conference selection, Custis enters her senior season as a three-time MVP recipient after leading her team in goals, assists, draw controls and ground balls. She also garnered All-America status during her junior campaign. Additionally, Custis has been named to the Under Armour Baltimore All-Star and US Lacrosse Honorable Mention All-America teams and was named the Daily Times Women’s Lacrosse Player of the Year as a junior. Custis also has enjoyed a tremendous soccer career in her prep days, helping her team to four undefeated seasons, three conference championships and two regional championships, while also being tabbed all-conference three times and all-state following her sophomore year. Off the field, Custis has been chosen as a WBOC/Mountaire Farms Scholar-Athlete as well as a US Lacrosse Academic All-American.

Hannah Hartman is a 5-8 midfielder/attacker from Cockeysville, Md., where she attends Notre Dame Prep. A three-sport athlete in lacrosse, basketball and volleyball at Notre Dame Prep, Hartman has received 11 varsity letters including being tabbed team captain of both her volleyball and basketball teams during her senior year. On the lacrosse field, Hartman has helped her squad garner national ranking during her sophomore and junior years, while ranking 12th individually on the 2012 ESPNHS Girls Top 25 Defensive Midfielders list. A three-year starter for Notre Dame Prep, Hartman also was named to the ’11 Under Armour Underclassmen Baltimore Girls All-Star Team as well as the ESPNHS Rise ’11 Junior Midfielders Watch List. In addition to playing lacrosse with Notre Dame Prep, Hartman also played attack, midfield, defensive midfield and defense over her six seasons of play with her club team, TLC.

Katherine McManus

Danielle Lukish is a 5-6 defender/midfielder that also joins the Irish out of Notre Dame Prep after attending Academy of the Holy Cross during her freshman and sophomore years. A native of Lutherville, Md., Lukish is a four-sport prep athlete, competing in field hockey, basketball and indoor track in addition to lacrosse. Lukish has been honored by several outlets for her play in lacrosse, being named an Under Armour All-American, Washington D.C. Region Team selection in both ’10 and ’11, WDNT DC Metro Team 3 honoree and the WCAC Lacrosse all-conference second team choice in ’10 for attack. She spent time with two club lacrosse teams, starting with Capital before moving to TLC. Lukish, whose greatest athletic thrill to-date is defeating the Long Island Under Armour team for the Under Armour tournament title in ’11, also has claimed several off-the-field laurels that include the Academic Excellence Honors Award in both ’08-09 and ’09-10.

Katherine McManus is a 5-6 midfielder from Sharon, Mass., where she attends Thayer Academy. A three-sport athlete in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse, McManus helped her lacrosse team to an undefeated campaign and a conference championship during her sophomore season, while being selected as a team captain for her senior campaign. She also has played club lacrosse for Revolution Lacrosse since her sophomore year of high school, helping the team to the finals of a fall tournament in Maryland in ’10. A Coaches Award selection in both lacrosse (’10) and field hockey (’11), McManus helped her Thayer squad defeat rival Nobles for the first time in school history during her sophomore year to claim the ISL conference championship.

Kiera McMullan

Kiera McMullan is a 5-5 attacker out of West Nyack, N.Y., where she attends Pearl River High School while playing club lacrosse at Metro Lacrosse Club. During her junior season, she helped her team claim the sectional and regional championships, while herself being tabbed all-region and all-county after the squad reached the state final four. For her efforts, she was named to the all-tournament team after netting 67 goals on the year to help her reach 100 goals for her career. Entering her senior lacrosse season as a team captain, McMullan also participated in soccer, lettering each of her four seasons while being named team captain during her final season. Off the field, McMullan is a part of the National Honor Society, Math Honor Society, Latin Honor Society and Science Honor Society.

Stephanie Peragallo

Stephanie Peragallo is a 5-5 defender out of Hauppauge, N.Y., where she attends Hauppauge High School as a three-sport athlete in soccer, basketball and lacrosse. A 12-time varsity letter winner, Peragallo helped her lacrosse team claim three straight conference titles from her freshman through junior years, while also claiming the county crown during her junior season. A three-time, all-conference selection, she has twice been named all-county in addition to being named all-state and an All-American following her junior year. Voted as the No. 2 defender in the country according to ESPN Rise, Peragallo also has helped her club team, the Long Island Yellow Jackets, claim the National Draw Championships. She also has enjoyed tremendous success on the soccer pitch, being named all-conference and all-county each of her four seasons in addition to helping her club team, the Massapequa Force, qualify for an international tournament in Argentina in February of ’12. Peragallo, who is from the same high school as current Irish tennis player Jennifer Kellner, is serving as her class president while also maintaining high honor roll status throughout her four years.

Michele Phillips

Michele Phillips is a 5-4 midfielder out of Alexandria, Va., where she attends St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School while competing in soccer, basketball and lacrosse in addition to playing club lacrosse for Capital Lacrosse Club. Phillips enjoyed a breakout junior season in lacrosse that saw her named All-State Team One, All-State Player of the Year, First Team All-American, All-Met Team One, All-ISL and the Alexandria Sportsman Club Outstanding Lacrosse Player of the Year en route to helping her team earn national ranking and claim the state title for the third consecutive year. She also helped the soccer team capture the ISL regular season title in soccer for the first time in school history in the fall of ’11. Phillips, who comes from the same high school as current Irish lacrosse player Emily Conner, comes from a lacrosse family, as her brother Chip currently plays lacrosse for Denison College.

Austin Pruitt

Austin Pruitt is a 5-11 midfielder out of Richmond, Va., where she attends Collegiate School. A three-sport athlete in field hockey, indoor track and lacrosse, she also has enjoyed stints with three different club lacrosse teams – Geronimo Elite, Future Elite, Capital Seniors – including helping Geronimo Elite capture the Top of the Bay tournament title. Pruitt, who enters her senior lacrosse season as team captain, has helped her team claim three consecutive conference titles in addition to being named an all-conference and all-state selection during her junior season. A two-time choice to the Virginia National Team and Under Armour DC team in ’10 and ’11, she also helped her team claim the League of Independent Schools championship in both ’09 and ’10, while finishing state runner-up in both ’10 and ’11. Pruitt also enjoyed a standout track career that saw her named all-league and all-state each of her first three seasons, while being named to the National Elite in ’11 and setting the League of Independent Schools 200m dash record and the Collegiate School record in the 55m dash and 4x200m relay. Current Irish junior Betsy Mastropieri also attended Collegiate School.

Rachel Sexton

Rachel Sexton is a 5-5 midfielder from Sudbury, Mass., where she attends Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. A two-sport athlete in both soccer and lacrosse, Sexton has helped her team to three consecutive conference crowns, while also having earned the sectional title during her junior season. A two-time team captain and two-time selection to the all-conference team, Sexton also claimed all-city, all-region, all-county and All-America billing during her junior year that saw her score 50 goals along with dishing out 24 assists. Additionally, she was named to the Under Armour Underclassmen All-Star team for New England in ’10 and ’11, while also being named an Eastern Massachusetts First Team All-Star in ’11. Sexton comes from a family pedigree of lacrosse, as her father, Ralph, along with three of her cousins enjoyed collegiate lacrosse careers, including her cousin, Jonathan Harvey, who starred for the Notre Dame men’s team from ’98-01.

Stephanie Toy

Stephanie Toy is a 5-6 midfielder from Moorestown, N.J., where she attends Moorestown High School. A three-sport athlete in soccer, lacrosse and basketball, Toy also plays club lacrosse for the South Jersey Selects. She has helped Moorestown claim the conference championship each of her first three seasons, while claiming the sectional crown in her freshman and junior years, in addition to claiming the state title both seasons, and finishing runner-up sophomore year. Individually, Toy has been named all-conference each of her first three years with the team, while earning all-region, all-county, all-state and All-America distinction following a junior season that also saw her named the Midfielder of the Year as selected by the Women’s Lacrosse Club of South Jersey (WLCSJ). During her junior season, Toy scored the game-winning goal of the state championship contest in the fourth overtime to advance her team to the Tournament of Champions, an event her team won during her freshman campaign.

2012 Notre Dame Women's Lacrosse Recruits
Player            Pos.    Ht. Hometown/High SchoolBrie Custis     M   5-10    Salisbury, Md./ParksideHannah Hartman          M/A 5-8 Cockeysville, Md./Notre Dame PrepDanielle Lukish         D/M 5-6 Lutherville, Md./Notre Dame PrepKatherine McManus   M   5-6 Sharon, Mass./Thayer AcademyKiera McMullan          A   5-5 West Nyack, N.J./Pearl RiverStephanie Peragallo D   5-5 Hauppauge, N.Y./HauppaugeMichele Phillips    M   5-4 Alexandria, Va./St. Stephen's and St. AgnesAustin Pruitt       M   5-11    Richmond, Va./Collegiate SchoolRachel Sexton       M   5-5 Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury RegionalStephanie Toy           M   5-6 Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown

–ND–