April 28, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The East Carolina women's golf team is one of 21 teams headed to the East Regional the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Committee announced Monday afternoon.

The Lady Pirates (115-26-1) earned an at-large bid and was chosen as the No. 13 seed in the East Regional, which will be held at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga., May 8-10.

The East Regional is one of three regional tournaments which will be held to determine the championships field. Regional tournaments are considered preliminary rounds of NCAA championships competition, and all national championships policies will apply.

A total of 324 participants have been selected for the regional competition. Of these players, 126 will advance to the championships finals May 20-23. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each region.

The Lady Pirates, in just its eighth year of existence, will make their fourth appearance in the NCAA Championships. During the 2002-03 season, ECU garnered a No. 12 seed in the East Regional in Winston-Salem, N.C. finishing tied for 14th. The Pirates were a 15 seed during the 2004-05 season in Gainesville, Fla. finishing in 17th. Former Pirate Adrienne Millican participated in the NCAA Championships as an individual in 2004 placing in a tie for 34th out of 126 golfers.

After claiming its first Conference USA Championship in the spring of 2006, the Pirates earned an automatic bid to the East Regional heading to Greensboro, N.C. as the No. 20 seed and finished tied for 19th.

"This is a nice reward for the good year we had," said Head Coach Kevin Williams. "I am real excited about playing at the University of Georgia Golf Course where our game matches up well with the course. It is a very competitive regional and I think our girls are up for the challenge and are looking to move forward to the NCAA Championships."

The championships finals will be held at the University of New Mexico Championship Course, Albuquerque, New Mexico and hosted by the University of New Mexico.

East Regional

The East regional will be played May 8-10 at the UGA Golf Course, Athens, Georgia, hosted by the University of Georgia. Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution.

Teams:
1. Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)
2. Florida ( Southeastern Conference)
3. Georgia
4. Auburn
5. Wake Forest
6. Tennessee
7. Virginia
8. New Mexico (Mountain West Conference)
9. Vanderbilt
10. Louisville
11. South Carolina
12. Furman (Southern Conference)
13. East Carolina
14. Georgia State
15. UCF
16. Missouri
17. Indiana
18. North Carolina-Wilmington (Colonial Athletic Association)
19. Jacksonville State (Ohio Valley Conference)
20. Charleston Southern (Big South Conference)
21. Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference)

Individuals:
1. Dori Carter, Mississippi
2. Emma Degroot, Chattanooga
3. Paula Hurtado, Florida International

Central Regional

The Central regional will be played May 8-10 at the University of Texas Golf Course, Austin, Texas, hosted by the University of Texas. Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution.

Teams:
1. UCLA
2. Purdue (Big Ten Conference)
3. Alabama
4. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
5. Kent State (Mid-American Conference)
6. Pepperdine
7. LSU
8. Texas A&M
9. Notre Dame (Big East Conference)
10. Texas
11. TCU
12. Florida State
13. North Carolina State
14. East Tennessee State (Atlantic Sun Conference)
15. Texas Tech
16. Washington
17. Nebraska
18. Harvard (Ivy Group)
19. Texas State (Southland Conference)
20. Illinois State (Missouri Valley Conference)
21. Fairleigh Dickinson (Northeast Conference)

Individuals:
1. Steffi Kirchmayr, College of Charleston
2. Sara Wikstrom, Arkansas-Little Rock
3. Araceli Felgueroso, Coastal Carolina

West Regional

The West regional will be played May 8-10 at the Lincoln Hills Golf Club, Lincoln, California, hosted by Sacramento State University. Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution.

Teams:
1. Southern California (Pacific-10 Conference)
2. Arizona State
3. Arkansas
4. Arizona
5. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)
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 Conference)
19. Fresno State (Western Athletic Conference)
20. Oral Roberts (The Summit League)
21. Portland State (Big Sky Conference)

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