No. 32 Ducks Indiana-Bound for NCAA Regionals
*Updated season/career statistics are available via the link above.
EUGENE – After one of its most successful regular seasons in school history, the No. 32 University of Oregon women’s golf team was accorded an invitation to the NCAA Central Regional next week - its third straight postseason bid and 15th overall in school history.
The three-day, three-round event is set for Thursday-Saturday, May 6-8 at the Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus, Ind., while the other two regionals will be hosted by East Carolina and Stanford at the Ironwood Country Club and Stanford Golf Course, respectively.
The low eight team finishers and low two individuals not on those teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, hosted by the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C., Tuesday-Saturday, May 18-21.
UO is the 11th-highest seeded team in the 24-team Central Region field and each squad’s Golfstat/Golfweek rankings follow: Arizona State (2/2), USC (5/4), Purdue (7/7), Michigan State (10/13), Georgia (14/14), Denver (17/16), New Mexico (20/21), Florida State (23/22), Oklahoma State (26/28), Louisville (28/33), Oregon (34/32), Kent State (33/35), Northwestern (40/37), Notre Dame (42/43), Mississippi (48/42), San Diego State (46/45), Baylor (52/47), Tulsa (53/49), N.C. State (55/61), Indiana (59/54), Illinois State (85/80), Murray State (136/141), Detroit Mercy (204/202) and Jackson State (215/215).
Three individuals were also selected to the Central Regional field - Ashley Bauer of Michigan, Olivia Lansing of Drake and Julia Potter of Missouri.
Live results will be available at the www.GolfStat.com website, more tourney info will be posted at the www.IUhoosiers.com website and www.NCAAsports.com websites, and national rankings are available at the www.GolfStat.com and www.GolfWeek.com websites.
In last year’s NCAA West Regional at Arizona State’s Karsten Golf Course, then-No. 36 UO finished 12th among 21 teams (299-298-293-890) – two positions higher than its pre-meet seeding and only 11 strokes behind eighth place, the final NCAA qualifying spot. UO’s spring-best final round (293) stood as its fifth straight sub-300 round of the spring and 15th in 30 overall in 2008-09. Senior Cathryn Bristow (ninth-tie, 72-74-69-215) qualified as an individual for the NCAA Championships via a playoff, and was joined in the regional by Kendra Little (35th-tie, 74-72-76-222), Felicia Eastick (43rd-tie, 74-77-72-223), Ashley Edwards (74th-tie, 79-75-76-230) and Kate Hildahl (103rd-tie, 84-82-79-245).
Four current Ducks also played in the 2008 NCAA West Regional near Sacramento – Little (17th-t, 71-75-74-220), Eastick (56th-t, 76-74-78-228), Omlid (80th-t, 79-77-76-232) and Hildahl (86th-t, 79-75-80-234).
UO will set its sights on its first NCAA team appearance since 2000 and seventh in school history, and its all-time NCAA finishes follow (1993 – 17th; 1994 – 14th; 1995 – 13th; 1997 – 7th; 1998 – 14th; 2000 – 11th). Two Oregon individuals have also competed in the national finale in 2005 (Johnna Nealy, 85th, 307) and ’09 (Cathryn Bristow, 96th-t, 316).
Last weekend at the Eugene Country Club in Eugene, junior Kendra Little (72-75-72-219) and the team’s third-place finishes were UO’s best-ever in the Pacific-10 Conference Championships. Two other Ducks tied for 18th place - sophomore Ashley Edwards (73-76-76-225) and junior Erica Omlid (71-78-76-225). Senior Kate Hildahl shot the tourney’s second-lowest score with her final round 68 and tied for 23rd overall, and was followed closely by freshman Cheyenne Hickle (27th). After the event, Little was tabbed as UO’s first ever three-time All-Pac-10 selection with her third straight second-team honor.
The Ducks’ eight-person roster is arguably one of its most balanced ever as four different players have led the squad in its 10 tourneys so far in 2009-10 – Little (six times), Hickle (2), Edwards (1) and Hildahl (1). Among the team’s 28 rounds this year, Little has carded Oregon’s best score 13 times, ahead of Hickle and Hildahl (6 times each), Edwards and Omlid (2), and junior Monika Graf and Eastick (1). Little has shot six rounds under-par in the fall and spring and has four more at par, and other players under-par/par season counts follow: Edwards (1/1), Hickle (1/-), Hildahl (1/-) and Omlid (1/-).
Past Duck NCAA Women’s Golf Regional Championships Results
Year Top UO Individual Place Score Team Score
1993 C Mack/S. Maier T29th 221 9th 885
1994 Karly Mills T22nd 224 10th 912
1995 Shannon Hare T29th 301 4th 898
1996 Christel Tomori T54th 242 16th 974
1997 Paula Patterson T5th 213 6th 885
1998 Kylie Wilson T23rd 226 T10th 912
1999 J. White/A. Rizzo T39th 231 T12th 932
2000 J. White/A. Heuser T21st 223 7th 895
2001 J. White T16th 224 9th 923
2002 K. Cho T63rd 237 --- ---
2004 Johnna Nealy T25th 224 T8th 913
2005 Johnna Nealy T6th 220 10th 913
2008 Kendra Little T17th 220 13th 901
2009 Cathryn Bristow T9th 215 12th 890
2010 NCAA Regional Fields
EAST REGIONAL
Ironwood Country Club, Greenville, N.C. (Host: East Carolina)
1. Duke
2. Auburn
3. Wake Forest
4. Pepperdine
5. Vanderbilt
6. Tennessee
7. Florida
8. TCU
9. North Carolina
10. South Carolina
11. Tulane
12. Chattanooga
13. Washington
14. Texas Tech
15. Georgia State
16. Campbell
17. East Tennessee State
18. Furman
19. Coastal Carolina
20. East Carolina
21. College of Charleston
22. Stetson
23. Charleston Southern
24. Fairleigh Dickinson
Individuals: Sofia Hagsund, UNC Wilmington; Shena Yang, USF; Nicole Sakamoto, James Madison
CENTRAL REGIONAL
Otter Creek Golf Course, Columbus, Ind. (Host: Indiana University)
1. Arizona State
2. USC
3. Purdue
4. Michigan State
5. Georgia
6. Denver
7. New Mexico
8. Florida State
9. Oklahoma State
10. Louisville
11. Oregon
12. Kent State
13. Northwestern
14. Notre Dame
15. Mississippi
16. San Diego State
17. Baylor
18. Tulsa
19. N.C. State
20. Indiana
21. Illinois State
22. Murray State
23. Detroit Mercy
24. Jackson State
Individuals: Ashley Bauer, Michigan; Olivia Lansing, Drake; Julia Potter, Missouri
WEST REGIONAL
Stanford (Calif.) Golf Course (Host: Stanford)
1. UCLA
2. Alabama
3. Arizona
4. Ohio State
5. Virginia
6. Stanford
7. LSU
8. California
9. Texas A&M
10. Texas
11. UC Davis
12. Arkansas
13. UNLV
14. San Jose State
15. San Francisco
16. Idaho
17. UC Irvine
18. Iowa State
19. Maryland
20. Colorado State
21. Oral Roberts
22. Texas State
23. Pennsylvania
24. Portland State
Individuals: Amy Anderson, North Dakota State; Teresa Puga, Minnesota; Ellen Mueller, Oklahoma
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