April 30, 2007
The Vanderbilt women’s golf team has received a No. 2 seed at the NCAA Central Regional and is scheduled to compete at the three-day 54-hole event at the University of Michigan Golf Course in Ann Arbor on May 10-12, the NCAA announced on Monday.
The Commodores, who earned the tournament’s fourth seed overall, are one of 21 teams competing at the regional. Sixty-three teams make up the tournament’s overall field. LSU is hosting the East Regional in Baton Rouge, La., while BYU is hosting the West Regional in St. George, Utah.
The top eight teams from each site, as well as the top two individual performers not from advancing squads, move on to compete at the NCAA Championship in Daytona Beach, Fla., May 22-25.
Georgia is the top seed at the central regional, followed by Vanderbilt, Southern California, Tennessee and Arizona. Arkansas is seeded No. 9 at the regional.
“It’s a very competitive regional,” said head coach Martha Richards who has directed to the Commodores to an NCAA regional in each of her seven years at Vanderbilt. “You can always expect 10 to 11 teams to perform well at each site.
“You have to go into a regional with the mindset of finishing first,” Richards said. “If you set your goal at just hoping to finish among the top eight, you often fail to qualify for the NCAA Championship.”
Vanderbilt’s No. 2 seed in the central regional is the school’s highest ranking in any regional since the Commodores were listed as a No. 1 seed in the central regional in 2004. That year Vanderbilt won the central regional and finished fifth at the NCAA Championship.
The five Commodores competing at the event will be sophomore Jacqui Concolino, junior Liebelei Lawrence, seniors Kristen Svicarovich and Chris Brady and freshman Brook Goodwin. Concolino owns a team-best 72.83 stroke average and ranks sixth nationally according to Golfstat.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP PARTICIPANTS
East Regional
The East regional will be played May 10-12 at the University Club Golf Course, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, hosted by LSU.
Teams:
1. Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)
2. UCLA
3. Auburn
4. Purdue
5. Texas A&M (Big 12 Conference)
6. North Carolina
7. Alabama
8. Wake Forest
9. South Carolina
10. Virginia
11. Florida State
12. LSU
13. Louisville
14. South Florida
15. North Carolina State
16. Birmingham-Southern (Big South Conference)
17. Furman
18. College of Charleston
19. Western Carolina (Southern Conference)
20. Jacksonville State (Ohio Valley Conference)
21. Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference)
Individuals:
1. Araceli Felgueroso, Coastal Carolina
2. Lene Krog, East Carolina
3. Amanda Mathis, Mississippi State
Central Regional
The Central regional will be played May 10-12 at the University of Michigan Golf Course, Ann Arbor, Michigan, hosted by the University of Michigan.
Teams:
1. Georgia (Southeastern Conference)
2. Vanderbilt
3. Southern California
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Michigan State (Big Ten Conference)
7. TCU (Mountain West Conference)
8. Baylor
9. Arkansas
10. Kent State (Mid-American Conference)
11. Ohio State
12. Northwestern
13. Michigan
14. Missouri
15. SMU
16. Maryland
17. Indiana
18. North Carolina-Wilmington (Colonial Athletic Association)
19. Oral Roberts (Mid-Continent Conference)
20. Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley Conference)
21. St. Francis (Pennsylvania) (Northeast Conference)
Individuals:
1. Gerina Mendoza, UTEP
2. Sara Wikstrom, Arkansas-Little Rock
3. Noriko Nakazaki, Notre Dame
West Regional
The West regional will be played May 10-12 at the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club, St. George, Utah, hosted by the Brigham Young University.
Teams:
1. Arizona State (Pacific-10 Conference)
2. Pepperdine
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma State
5. Brigham Young
6. Stanford
7. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
8. New Mexico
9. UC Irvine (Big West Conference)
10. San Jose State
11. UNLV
12. San Francisco
13. Hawaii
14. California
15. Idaho (Western Athletic Conference)
16. Washington State
17. Campbell (Atlantic Sun Conference)
18. Nebraska
19. Memphis (Conference USA)
20. Sacramento State (Big Sky Conference)
21. Columbia-Barnard (Ivy Group)
Individuals:
1. Kay Hoey, Long Beach State
2. Jennifer Shipley, Fresno State
3. Lehua Wise, New Mexico State