Mark Kubik Class: Junior Hometown: San Antonio, TX High School: Reagan Height / Weight: 6-3 / 185 Event: Foil Birthdate: 01/19/1987 Clubs: San Antonio Sports Foundation/Kanza Fencing Center (Salina, KS)

2007 All-American
Academic All-America Candidate (3.67)
Men's Foil Team Co-Captain

Third-year foilist who made big jump from freshman to sophomore season, after improving from a 21st-place showing at the 2006 NCAAs to an All-America finish (7th) in 2007 ... has made tremendous changes to his fencing while working with second-year assistant coach Gia Kvaratskhelia (who also coached him previously at the Kanza Fencing Center, in Salina, Kan.) ... has adjusted to the new timing regulations in foil while utilizing his size and hand speed more than in the past (when he primarily relied on quick footwork and athleticism) ... could emerge as a contender for the 2008 NCAA men's foil title ... has become more effective in his bouting by narrowing his range of actions ... has developed some epee-like tendencies, as a more calculating and mentally-tough fencer ... combines strong work ethic with an intellectual approach to his bouting ... a driven competitor who can spend hours training by himself or in a group setting ... gained elite status as member of 2004 U.S. Junior National Team ... joins senior Jakub Jedrkowiak (a three-time All-American) in giving the Irish two men's foilists who have competed in multiple NCAAs ... showed his ability to complete on the top level of college fencing by placing third at annual Penn State Open in the fall of 2007 ... former youth national champion with plenty of international experience ... has 6-foot-2 frame and solid footwork ... a good tactician with strong offensive and defensive ability ... one of several Notre Dame fencers from a fencing family, as his father Wendell competed and coached at Air Force while his younger brothers Steve (a freshman on the Irish team) and Nick are top foilists ... compiled 82-38 record in regular-season bouts during first two seasons with the Irish ... was listed 21st in USFA rankings for men's foilists, as of Nov. 15, 2007 (his brother Steve was 30th overall and 18th in junior/U-20 rankings) ... a top Academic All-America candidate, as a chemical engineering major who compiled a 3.67 GPA during his first two years at Notre Dame ... an invited participant in Notre Dame athletics' Academic Honors Program (faculty mentoring) ... joined his brother Steve as part of four-fencer Kanza foil team that claimed bronze medal at 2006 Summer Nationals in Atlanta (he placed 16th in overall bouting and sixth among the U-20 field while brother Steve was 39th overall) ... placed 16th at the annual Penn State Open in the fall of 2007, with final loss to PSU's Nicholas Chinman.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Finished regular season with 39-21 record before strong postseason that included 3rd-place finish at Midwest Fencing Conference meet, 4th-place at NCAA Midwest Regional and second team All-America honors (by virtue of 7th-place finish at NCAAs) ... named MVP of Irish men's foil squad for 2006-07 ... his 15-4 record at Notre Dame Duals included pair of wins (5-2 vs. Will Jeter; 5-1 vs. Dmitri Kirk-Gordon) in team's 13-14 battle with Ohio State, adding other top wins over Stanford's Richard Fulton (4-3) and UC San Diego's John Chung (5-3) ... went 10-8 at NYU Duals and 5-6 at Duke Duals before closing regular season with 9-3 mark at the Northwestern Duals, where he topped Columbia's Calvin Chen (5-4) and pair of Penn State fencers (5-3 vs. Chinman; 5-4 vs. Alexander Louton) ... was upset by OSU's Joe Streb in MFC semifinals (15-12) ... beat OSU's Jeter (5-2) in MFC team competition ... entered Regional (at ND) as #6 seed but moved to #3 after strong showing in pool bout ... avenged MFC loss to Streb by beating him in Regional direct-elimination and again in final-8 (both 15-7), helping clinch spot in NCAA field ... lost to teammate Jedrkowiak in Regional semifinals (9-15) before dropping 3rd-place bout to Jeter (10-15) ... earned second team All-America honors with 7th-place NCAA finish (13-10; in Madison, N.J.), completing major improvement from his 20th--place showing at 2006 NCAA ... played part in Notre Dame posting maximum six men's All-Americans for only the third time (ND's 85 NCAA men's wins were its most since 2003) ... his solid opening day at NCAAs (9-5) included sweep of Penn State (5-3 vs. both Jeff Chang and Chinman), plus 5-2 win over Stanford's Fulton ... closed with key day-2 wins over Harvard's Kai Itameri-Kinter (5-1), SJU's Alexis Landreville (5-3) and Columbia's Kurt Getz (5-4), the eventual bronze medalist ... his strong showing at the Penn State Open in the fall of '06 (#4 seed) included early wins over Penn's Michael Galligan (5-3) and OSU's Kirk-Gordon (5-4), round-of-16 win over Princeton's Alejandro Bras, 15-10 quarterfinal with Harvard's Itameri-Kinter and a defensive battle in semifinals (6-7 vs. PSU's Chang) before losing 3rd-place rematch with Kirk-Gordon (11-15) ... competed in two USFA North American Cups during '06 fall semester, placing 25th in Albuquerque, N.M. (juniors/U-20s) and 11th in Richmond, Va. (overall/d-1) ... beat former U.S. teammate Clinton Kershaw in Richmond round-of-32, adding wins over Harvard's Itameri-Kinter (15-4) and Sam Wunderlich of St. John's before losing to Olympian Jed Dupree.

AS A FRESHMAN: Had impressive regular season (43-17) before placing sixth at MFCs and clinching spot in NCAAs with 4th-place finish at Regional ... his 14-4 record at Northwestern Duals included two wins over both Stanford (5-4 vs. Fulton) and UCSD (5-3 vs. Chung and Cameron Sprowles), plus 5-1 victory over Fullerton's Alex Decker (another NCAA participant) ... went 8-7 versus tough NYU Duals field, with 5-3 win over Columbia All-American Scott Sugimoto ... his 12-2 mark at ND Duals included 5-4 win over Duke's Jackson McClam (5-4) before another win over Stanford's Fulton (5-3), at UCSD Duals (9-4) ... his 6th-place finish in MFC included quarterfinal loss to OSU's Kirk-Gordon ... entered Regional in Cleveland as top seed, posting quarterfinal win over teammate Frank Bontempo (15-11) but losing to Kirk-Gordon in 3rd-place bout (13-15) ... had rough first day at NCAAs in Houston (2-12; 5-0 win over Columbia's Chen) before bouncing back with 5-4 record on Sunday (21st-place finish) that included wins over NYU's Gabe Sinkin (5-4), Harvard's Enoch Woodhouse (5-0), Stanford's Steve Gerberman (5-3) and PSU's Chang (5-2) ... placed 20th at Penn State Open (fall '05) ... competed at Jr. World Cups in Como, Italy (June '05; 70th/8th among U.S. fencers), and Aix-en-Provence, France (Nov. '05; 81st/7th) ... placed 28th in overall competition and 15th in junior/U-20 bouts at N.A.C. in Houston (Jan. '06), also 14th at Jr. Olympics in Hartford, Conn. (Feb. '06).

PREP & PERSONAL: Started fencing at age five, when his father (stationed at Scott Air Force Base, near St. Louis) and mother founded Falcon Fencers Club ... youngest fencer (six years old) at '93 Jr. Olympics in Colorado Springs (U-11 foil) ... later lived with his family in southern Germany for three years, fencing at Fechter Ring of Albstadt-Ebingen and winning silver at Baden-Württemberg U-10 state championship ... played youth soccer in Schwenningen-Baden ... continued to compete in both sports after moving to San Antonio before specializing in fencing in middle school ... coached by his father while also training with Palo Alto Fencers club (part of San Antonio Sports Foundation's Community Olympic Development Program) ... that club later became Dreams for Youth Fencing Center ... SASF is supported by the USOC and provides opportunities in Olympic sports to youth in economically disadvantaged communities ... participated at SASF's "Inner City Games," sponsored by Arnold Schwarzenegger ... has attended summer fencing camps at Kanza Fencing Club in Salina, Kan., coached by current Notre Dame assistant Kvaratskhelia ... has taken private lessons from Olympian and Hall of Famer Vinnie Bradford (at PAFC) and has worked with former members of Soviet junior national team such as Kvaratskhelia, Soviet champion Slava Grigoriev, and Andre Samoradov ... graduated from Reagan High School, which also produced recent Notre Dame ace baseball pitcher Jeff Manship ... top results in 2004-05 included: 15th at Jr. World Cup in Madrid, Spain (Nov. '04); 15th in U-20 bouts at N.A.C. in Overland Park, Kan. (Jan. '05; 61st in open event); 18th at Jr. Olympics in Arlington, Texas (Feb. '05); and 12th at 2005 Summer Nationals (Sacramento, Calif.) ... his '03-'04 season (ranked #3 among U.S. U-17s) included: qualifying for U.S. team and placing 13th at Jr. World Championships (Plovdiv, Bulgaria); a bronze medal at the Jr. Olympics (Cleveland); 31st at U-20 World Cup in Como, Italy, and 12th in Louisville, Ky.; sixth at U-17 World Cup in St. Petersburg, Russia; and second at U-17 N.A.C. in Overland Park ... fenced alongside Kershaw and Brendan Meyers on 2004 U.S. Cadet National Team (his 2004 Junior National teammates included Kershaw, Meyers and current OSU rival Kirk-Gordon) ... top '02-'03 results: third at Cadet Nationals (Austin, Texas); fifth at U-17 N.A.C. in Greenville, S.C.; 15th in cadet bouts at Jr. Olympics in Columbus, Ohio (28th in U-20); and 17th at Jr. Nationals (Austin) ... top '01-'02 results: U-14 silver at N.A.C. events in Saratoga Springs, Calif., and Louisville; third at U-14 Nationals and fifth at d-1A Nationals (both in Greenville) ... placed seventh at 2001 U-14 Nationals (Sacramento, Calif.) and won U-10 Nationals ('99) and U-12 Nationals ('00), both in Austin ... his father Wendell Kubik fenced at Air Force from '78-'81 (learning under Air Force fencing master Nick Toth) and later was coach of the Cadets from '87-'91 (now a volunteer coach for SASF and CODP) ... younger brothers Steve and Nick are promising young foil fencers (Steve fenced with U.S. at 2005 U-17 competition in Koblenz, Germany) ... a USFA nationally-certified referee who has volunteered at various fencing camps ... graduated first in his class ... member of National Honor Society and National German Honor Society ... fluent in German, residing in a town (San Antonio) with large German-American population ... his great-grandfather Andrew Kowalski immigrated to the U.S. in early 1900s and was kitchen worker at Notre Dame before settling in Chicago (Andrew's daughter LaVerne Kubik is Mark's grandmother and watches Mass from ND's Sacred Heart Basilica every Sunday on television) ... son of Wendell and Jenna Kubik ... full name is Mark Wendell Kubik ... born Jan. 19, 1987, in Colorado Springs ... a chemical engineering major, in the College of Engineering.