Women's Golf Qualifies for NCAA Regional - Oregon State University Athletics

CORVALLIS, Ore. – After a two-year absence, the Oregon State women’s golf team is back in NCAA postseason play, as it was announced today that the Beavers have earned a spot in the NCAA West Regional, which will be hosted by Washington in Auburn, Wash., on May 11-13.

OSU had taken part in the NCAA Regionals nine times over a 10-year period before missing out the last two years. After a strong spring season and an eighth-place finish at last week’s highly competitive Pacific-10 Championships, the Beavers were rewarded by the selection committee.

“A few years ago, the entire country wasn’t as strong as it is now, and waiting to hear your name called wasn’t like this,” OSU Coach Rise Lakowske said. “We had to do well this spring and we had to fight for our spot. It’s a very competitive field. We’re capable of beating a lot of these teams, and we have beaten some of them this spring.”

OSU’s top players include sophomore Julianna Uhrik (Modesto, Calif.), who has a team-best 76.71 stroke average this season; junior Jillian Ferrante (Battle Ground, Wash.), who averages 77.03 strokes per round; and senior Leah Whiting (Hilo, Hawaii), who averages 77.13 strokes per round. Whiting finished 12^th at last week’s Pac-10 Championships and set a school record by firing a 4-under-par 68 in the second round. She is the only current OSU player to have taken part in an NCAA event, having tied for 56^th at the 2003 West Regional.

“I’m very excited for our players,” Lakowske said. “Leah was not ready for her career to be over. They’ve got one more goal to pursue this season.”

Twenty-one teams are competing at the West Regional, which takes place at the Washington National Golf Club. In order of seeding, they are: UCLA, Georgia, Purdue, Arkansas, UNLV, Arizona, Stanford, New Mexico, Washington, Long Beach State, BYU, UC Irvine, San Jose State, Denver, Oregon State, Washington State, New Mexico State, Georgia State, Oral Roberts, Bradley and Montana.

The Beavers will need to finish in the top eight in order to go on to the NCAA Championships, hosted by Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on May 23-26. The OSU women have competed at the NCAA Championships once, in 1998.