Five Alumni in the News

With college spring sports seasons finished and the 2024 Olympics on the horizon, a number of former Gonzaga Eagles have been in the news recently at their colleges and universities. 

At Georgetown, Christian Ficca ‘20 (baseball) and Freddy Mesmer ‘14 (tennis) earned Big East Player of the Year and Coach of the Year respectively. Ficca, a former varsity basketball and baseball player on Eye Street, became the second player in Georgetown baseball’s history to earn the conference's player of the year award. You can see all of his stats from his award winning season here. Mesmer, a former tennis player for Gonzaga, led the Hoya Tennis program to 20-2 singles record and 13-5 doubles record. “It is an honor for our coaching staff here at Georgetown to be recognized for the hard work this year,” Mesmer said on the Georgetown website. The honor was earned in tandem with Diana Kussainova as they work together to coach both the men and women at the school. “Coaching two teams is something not many people can say that they do and both Diana and I take pride in leading our group of men's and women's student athletes at Georgetown."

Christian Tabash ‘17, who rowed crew at Harvard, earned a spot to compete in the Paris Olympics. Tabash is our most decorated Gonzaga Crew alumni to date. As documented on his Team USA Bio, he won a silver medal in the World Junior Olympics and a bronze medal in the 2021 World Rowing U23 Championships in 2021. Meanwhile back at Harvard, Liam Downing ‘21 and Ryan Link ‘21 were elected to the leadership positions of Captain and Peoples Choice on the crew team.  “These elections are prestigious and reflect their teammates' confidence in them, their leadership ability and the academic, spiritual and athletic training they received at Gonzaga,” said Gonzaga Crew Head Coach Tom Daley.  

Aiden Bond ‘23, who currently swims at William & Mary, qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 50m Free with a lifetime best 22.60 time. According to the Tribe website, “Bond capped his impressive first year in Green & Gold with an outstanding performance at the CAA Championships, taking home three medals in the 50 Free, 100 Free and 200 Free and setting a pair of freshman records.” He’ll compete in Indianapolis on Thursday, June 20 with the chance to join Tabash in Paris later this summer. 

Congratulations and best wishes to all for continued success in the future!