Women's Golf Selected For NCAA Central Regional

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May 5, 2003

NORMAN, Okla. - The OU women's golf team has qualified for the 2003 NCAA Regional Championships in Lincoln, Neb., May 8-10. The Sooners are one of 21 teams that will compete at the 6,023-yard, par-71 Firethorn Golf Club. The Sooners will field the same team that competed at the Big 12 Championships. Team members include Allison Johnson, Lisa Meldrum, Hope Edge, Emily Milberger and Amparo Gala.

The 54-hole tournament, which is hosted by the University of Nebraska, will be formatted with 18 holes each day. The 21-team field includes No.1 California, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 New Mexico, No. 6 Tulsa, No. 7 Purdue, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 9 Missouri, No. 10 Baylor, No. 11 TCU, No. 12 Kent State, No. 13 Michigan State, No. 14 Arkansas, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 16 Indiana, No. 17 Wisconsin and No. 18 Kansas State.

In 2002, the Sooners competed in the Central Regional in East Lansing, Mich., and finished seventh to qualify for the NCAA Championships. This marks the third straight year for Johnson, Meldrum and Edge to compete in the NCAA Regionals. Meldrum led the Sooners the last two years at Regionals, finishing tied for seventh in 2002 and tied for 13th in 2001. Milberger will make her second straight appearance at Regionals while Gala is competing for the first time.

Competition begins at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, May 8. The second round will be held on Friday and the final round on Saturday. The top eight teams and two individuals will advance to the NCAA Championships, May 20-23 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

Sooners Finish Fourth at Big 12 Championships
The women's golf team finished fourth with a 923 at the Big 12 Championships held April 21-23 in Columbia, Mo. The Sooners fired a final-round 304, which tied Oklahoma State for the lowest final round score. Oklahoma State edged out Missouri to win the Big 12 title for the third straight year. The tournament was played at the 6,008-yard, par-72, Country Club of Missouri.

Junior Hope Edge led the way for the Sooners after recording a final-round 77 to finish tied for 11th with a 230. Freshman Amparo Gala recorded a 231 to finish tied for 14th. Junior Lisa Meldrum tied for 19th with 234 total strokes while senior Allison Johnson carded a 236 to tie for 25th. Sophomore Emily Milberger rounded out the Sooners' scoring and tied for 35th with a 240.

Johnson's Finale
Senior Allison Johnson is the lone senior on the Sooner squad this year. Johnson has been a tremendous contributor to the team and has recorded 15 top-10 finishes in her collegiate career. She was honored by head coach Carol Ludvigson following the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic on April 8 for her stellar attitude and play the last four years.

Meldrum Earns More Awards
Junior Lisa Meldrum was honored as a second-team All-Big 12 member by the Big 12 Conference. This marks the third straight year for Meldrum to receive a postseason conference award. In 2002, she was honored as a first team all-conference member and was also named the 2001 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

First Victory for Milberger
Sophomore Emily Milberger earned her first collegiate victory at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic April 7-8 in Norman, Okla. Milberger recorded a three-round score of 224 (+8). It was the first time in head coach Carol Ludvigson's career that a No. 5 slot player won a tournament.

Success from Spain
Freshman Amparo Gala joined the Sooners this spring from Valencia, Spain, and has made an immediate impact. Gala has played in all six tournaments this spring and finished in the top five at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational (fourth) and the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic (fifth).

Sooner Smarts
Four members of the OU team were honored by the Big 12 Conference for their success in both the classroom and on the golf course. Hope Edge, Allison Johnson, Lisa Meldrum and Emily Milberger were all first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections. In addition, Johnson and Milberger were two out of the three on the entire first team with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Johnson has recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA in each of the three years she has been on the academic all-conference squad.

Coach Ludvigson Says
"The most important thing to us is to finish in the top eight teams so we can qualify for the NCAA Championships. Our goal is to start out strong in the first round because this is where we have been struggling. It will be a very competitive field and it is extremely important to start out well. I feel that our experienced players who played in Regionals last year are going to capitalize on this opportunity because they know what it takes."

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Women's Golf Selected For NCAA Central Regional

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