Women's golf team gears up for NCAA West Regional
The Arizona women's golf team is gearing up for its most important tournament of the season, the NCAA West Regional. The regionals will take place May 6-8 in College Station, Texas and will boast a lineup of the nation's most successful golf programs.
The Wildcats carded a second place finish in the Pacific 10 Conference Championships last weekend, trailing tournament champion Stanford by 12 strokes.
Arizona was led by freshman Cristina Baena (3-over-par) and junior Jill Gomric (4-over-par). UA was able to come from behind to capture the runner-up spot after a disappointing first day that left it in fifth place.UA senior Krissie Register believed the team's disappointment at Pac-10s in failing to "three-peat" can only be an advantage for the remaining two tournaments.
"We really didn't play our best but we really finished well," she said. "We just had a slow start and sometimes those are impossible to overcome."
Register also cited UA's past history to explain the team's chances at regionals.
"In 1996, when we last won the NCAA Tournament, we also lost the Pac-10," she said. "So we can look at it that way and just move on and try our best."
Junior Jenna Daniels also understands that although the competition will be tough, her squad can pull off a victory at the NCAA Championships May 19-22 in Tulsa, Okla.
"(The Pac-10s) was really a wake-up call," Daniels said. "We've got a great chance at the national tournament, even with Duke, Stanford and Tulsa playing with us. Our team is really strong and until the tournament we're really going to be working on our weaknesses."
Jensen Karp can be reached at Jensen.Karp@wildcat.arizona.edu.
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