April 25, 2005
INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA Division I Women's Golf Committee announced the teams and individuals selected to participate in the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships Regionals Monday, and the University of Denver accepted a bid to the NCAA West Regional in Las Cruces, N.M., the fourth consecutive season Denver will make an appearance in the field.
The Pioneers will be one of 21 teams to play in the West Regional May 5-7 at New Mexico State University Golf Course, with the top eight teams and two individuals advancing to NCAA Nationals May 17-20. The championships will be held at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.
Denver earned its fourth consecutive Regionals berth by winning its second straight Sun Belt Conference Championship last week by two strokes over New Mexico State and gaining the conference's automatic bid. Sophomore Emily Hoeper (Kansas City, Mo.) became Denver's first-ever SBC Champion when she claimed medalist honors on the fifth playoff hole over Arkansas-Little Rock's Sheridan Graham.
Denver has some experience on the difficult NMSU Golf Course, having played there in the Price's Give `Em Five Intercollegiate last October. The Pioneers finished 12th of 18 teams in that event as Hoeper finished tied for 12th.
Denver's best finish ever in a regional came last season, when the Pioneers finished in 11th place and just two strokes out of a three-way tie for eighth place.
The West regional will be played May 5-7 at New Mexico State University Golf Course, Las Cruces, New Mexico, hosted by New Mexico State University. Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution.
Teams:
1. UCLA (Pacific-10 Conference)
2. Georgia
3. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)
4. Tennessee
5. Southern California
6. Arizona
7. California
8. Washington State
9. Stanford
10. UNLV (Mountain West Conference)
11. Oregon
12. San Francisco
13. UC Irvine (Big West Conference)
14. Brigham Young
15. Colorado State
16. Portland State (Big Sky Conference)
17. Northwestern
18. Oral Roberts (Mid-Continent Conference)
19. Illinois State (Missouri Valley Conference)
20. Georgia State (Atlantic Sun Conference)
21. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
Individuals:
1. Kay Hoey, Long Beach State
2. Laura Luethke, Fresno State
3. Renee Skidmore, Idaho
