OU Women Set for NCAA Regional - University of Oklahoma

2008 NCAA Championships West Regional
Date	May 8-10, 2008
Location	Lincoln, Calif.
Start Time	10:10 a.m. CDT each day
Course	Orchard Course, Lincoln Hills
Par/Yards	72/6,344
Host	Sacramento State University
Live Stats	Golfstat Live Scoring
Tournament Info	Tournament Notes (PDF)

NORMAN, Okla. - The 14th-seeded Oklahoma women's golf team returns to the links May 8-10 as play begins at the NCAA Championships West Regional in Lincoln, Calif. The Sooners, playing in the NCAA Regional Championships for the first time since 2004, look to continue their 2007-08 success as they take on the 6,344-yard, par-72 Orchard Course at Lincoln Hills Golf Club.

"Being a links-type course, I think we can be successful because we're pretty good off the tee box," OU head coach Carol Ludvigson said. "Our fairway percentages are really good. Also, hitting a lot of greens is going to be a real goal of ours because that's an area where I feel like we've kind of faltered the last few tournaments."

OU is coming off a solid fifth-place performance at the Big 12 Championship in Stillwater, and hopes to use its experience at tough Karsten Creek to its advantage this week.

"That's going to be a real plus for us," Coach Ludvigson said, "coming off of Karsten and going to a golf course where you can kind of relax a little bit. There will be some birdie holes out there. Our play around the greens is going to be critical, and I think that is a real solid part of our game. I think that will be a real plus."

Heading the Sooner lineup for the third time in four tournaments will be Kendall Dye. The junior from Edmond, Okla., earned a spot on the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team with her ninth-place finish April 25-27. It marked the second-consecutive top-10 finish for Dye, who captured individual medalist honors at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic April 6-7 in Norman.

"We are very excited to have the opportunity to play in the West Regional Championship," Dye said. "We learned a lot and matured as a team last week at the Big 12 Championship, and I feel that is going to be an advantage for us going into this week. This lineup is strong from players one through five, and we have the talent and heart to continue on to the NCAA Championship."

Kelly Jacques holds the No. 2 spot in the lineup for the second consecutive tournament. The senior from Longmont, Colo., finished tied for 15th place at the Big 12 Championship, marking her eighth top-15 of the season and her 20th career top 20. Jacques holds the No. 3 position all-time in OU career scoring with a 76.94 average.

Senior Heather Wright is next in the lineup at Lincoln Hills this week. The senior from Houston, Texas, tied for 38th at the Big 12 Championship two weeks ago. Her opening-round 82 was the low score of the day for the Sooners. Wright has five top-25 finishes this season, including a third-place performance at the MountainView Collegiate March 29-30.

Ellen Mueller continued her successful freshman season with a tie for 21st place at the Big 12 Championship. Mueller now has back-to-back top-25 finishes and six total on the year. She holds the No. 4 spot for OU this week.

Ryanne Elmer has become a staple in the OU lineup as of late. The sophomore from Edmond, Okla., is making her fourth consecutive tournament appearance, and third consecutive start.

"Everybody needs to play well," Ludvigson said. "It's one of those that we need to have even our fifth player shooting competitive scores because these are good teams, obviously. But I feel like we're headed to our best golf as well. It definitely needs to be a team effort. Where we've done our best before, we've had maybe one, two or three players playing well. We need to have four or five players this week playing above average."

Fellow Big 12 member Oklahoma State (No. 5 seed), as well as in-state rival Tulsa (No. 10 seed) join the Sooners in the NCAA West Regional field. The top five seeds at Lincoln Hills are USC, Arizona State, Arkansas, Arizona and OSU. OU is looking to make a good showing and take the next step to the NCAA Championship in Albuquerque, N.M., May 20-23.

"Everybody is really ready to play," Coach Ludvigson said. "They're excited and they know that they can make it to the next step. Looking back at Karsten, we didn't play well, but I think it was one of those real beneficial times and a perfect time to play that golf course."

The Sooners' first tee time Thursday is 2:30 p.m. CDT and then at 10:10 a.m. Friday. Saturday's final round will begin at 10:10 a.m., with teams and players being reseeded based upon scores through the first 36 holes.

"I would like nothing more than to see our seniors, Kelly and Heather, be able to finish their OU careers by playing in the NCAA Championship," Dye added. "Qualifying for Regionals is great, but our desire is to be playing in Albuquerque in two weeks."

2008 NCAA West Regional

(Conference automatic qualifiers)

Team Qualifiers:
1. Southern California (Pac-10)
2. Arizona State
3. Arkansas
4. Arizona
5. Oklahoma State (Big 12)
6. California
7. Michigan State
8. Stanford
9. BYU
10. Tulsa (Conference USA)
11. North Carolina
12. Ohio State
13. San Jose State
14. Oklahoma
15. Oregon
16. UNLV
17. UC Davis
18. UC Irvine (Big West)
19. Fresno State (Western Athletic Conference)
20. Oral Roberts (Summit League)
21. Portland State (Big Sky)

Individual Qualifiers:
1. Mallory Blackwelder, Kentucky
2. Danielle Cvitanov, San Francisco
3. Emily Powers, Kansas

Women's Golf Notes

THREE SOONERS ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12
Seniors Kelly Jacques and Sydney Lee and junior Kendall Dye were all named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team.
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WINNING WAYS
The Sooners have won three tournaments this season, including their home tournament, the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic. The three tournament championships ties the school record for most victories in a single season. It has happened just three other times in school history (1981, 1986 and 2003). The team title at the Susie Maxwell was the Sooners' first win at home since 2004.
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DYE ROLLS A "W"
Junior Kendall Dye won co-medalist honors at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic with a 2-under-par score of 214, marking the first individual championship of her career. She joined elite company with the title, becoming just the 28th medalist in OU history and the first since Lisa Meldrum in 2004.
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SCHOOL RECORD
The Sooners carded a team score of 287 in the first round of the MountainView Collegiate March 29-30 in Tucson, Ariz., tying the school record for low 18 holes set in 1994 at the Chris Johnson Invitational.
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JACQUES AMONG SOONER GREATS
Senior Kelly Jacques has already left her mark in the OU history books, and still has a couple tournaments left to add to her legacy. She ranks second in school history with a 76.86 career stroke average, trailing only Lisa Meldrum (75.14). Jacques' 2007-08 average of 75.32 is also within range of Meldrum's single-season record (74.94). The First Team All-Big 12 selection from a year ago has 19 career top-20 finishes, 10 top-10 performances and three top fives.
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FRESHMAN PHENOM
Not many freshmen can say they played in every single event their first year. But not many freshmen are as good as OU's Ellen Mueller. Not only has Mueller started in the lineup in each of OU's tournaments this season, but she has done so with five top-25 performances, two top 10s and a tie for second. Her 76.80 scoring average is one of the best in OU freshman history.
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WRIGHT ON TARGET
Heather Wright, a senior from Houston, Texas, has had one of the most productive careers in program history. Wright boasts a 77.96 career scoring average over 101 rounds, seventh all-time at OU. She posted the Sooners' low round of the season at the MountainView Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz., with a 69 on the opening 18. She went on to finish in third place in Tucson, a career-best performance. Wright has eight career top-20 finishes, three top-10s and two top fives.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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