May. 2, 2005
NCAA Central Regional Championships Guide in PDF Format
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NEXT IN LOBO WOMEN’S GOLF
No. 14 New Mexico at NCAA Central Regional
WHEN: Thursday, May 5 – Saturday, May 7
WHERE: Jerry S. Rawls Course – Lubbock, Texas – Par 72 – 6,328 yards
Hosted by Texas Tech University
Top Eight Advance to NCAA Championships
THE FIELD – 21 TEAMS (Regional Seeds; National Rankings – Golfweek): 1. Auburn (3); 2. Arizona State (4); 3. New Mexico (14); 4. LSU (12) 5. Wake Forest (15); 6. Texas (21); 7. Missouri (18); 8. Arkansas (20) 9. Michigan; 10. Tulsa (22); 11. TCU; 12. SMU; 13. Purdue
14. Michigan State; 15. Kent State; 16. Baylor; 17. Texas A&M
18. South Florida; 19. Texas Tech; 20. Notre Dame; 21. Long Island
RESULTS: Live stats available at www.GolfStat.com. Recaps and results of each round also available at www.GoLobos.com
THE LINEUP:
1. Kailin Downs 2. Christina Spence 3. Christine Fernandez 4. Ashley Rollins 5. Giselle Claux
No. 14 LOBOS LOOKING TO ADVANCE TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR – The New Mexico women’s golf team, ranked 14th in the latest Golfweek rankings, will be looking to advance to its second straight NCAA Championships appearance with a strong showing at the NCAA Central Regional May 5-7 at the Jerry S. Rawls Course in Lubbock, Texas. Live stats of the tournament will be available at www.GolfStat.com.
The Lobos, seeded third in the 21-team regional, need to finish in the top eight at regionals for a shot at nationals May 17-20. The Lobos have participated in every NCAA regional since the field was expanded in 1993, a span of 13 straight postseason bids.
UNM is eager to hit the course at the regionals after finishing just two strokes shy of claiming its fifth Mountain West title in six years in its last outing at the 2005 Mountain West Championships in Sunriver, Ore., site of this year’s NCAA Championships. The Lobos finished second to UNLV.
The Lobos will be ready for the challenge that the Rawls Course presents. The course, a par-72, 6,328-yard layout, plays to the strengths of the Lobos, according to head coach Jackie Booth.
“We are very excited to land a spot in the Central Regional,” said Booth. “We wanted to play on this course. It’s a perfect layout for us – the course is long with wide-open fairways. Overall, we couldn’t be happier about our draw.”
The Lobos placed seventh at the Central Regional last year at Illinois State University to advance to their 12th NCAA Championship appearance. This season, New Mexico has earned two tournament victories, winning the Landfall Tradition in late October for the second straight year and claiming the Gamecock Classic in mid-March. The Lobos have won an impressive 12 tournament titles in the past four seasons.
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Individually, the Lobos have four starters ranked in the top 140 according to Golfweek. Downs heads the pack at No. 34, while junior Christine Fernandez is at at No. 72. Senior Christina Spence is ranked 129th and sophomore Ashley Rollins is at 136th.
Downs, who set the UNM junior scoring-average mark last season with a 73.91 average, is looking to topple Katrina Leckovic’s career scoring average of 75.34 in her last season. After three years and eight tournaments, Downs’ average is at 74.26. The preseason All-American was named the Mountain West Golfer of the Month in September and October, marking the sixth and seventh times in her career she has won the award. She’s second in the Mountain West with a 74.21 scoring average.
Fernandez, the Lobos’ top finisher at the 2004 NCAA Championships, is having a stellar junior season, as she is second on team with a 75.13 average, which is also good for third in the Mountain West. Rollins, the 2004 Mountain West Freshman of the Year, is seventh in the MWC with a 76.13 average while Spence is eighth in the conference with a 76.19 average. Redshirt freshman Giselle Claux (77.78 avg.) has started five tournaments and freshman Alexandra Phelps (79.93 avg.) has started four times for UNM this season.
THE CLASS OF THE MOUNTAIN WEST – The Lobos are clearly the class of the Mountain West Conference when it comes to women’s golf. UNM has won four of the six MWC Championships and is currently the highest ranked team in the league at No. 14 in the nation.
For the fifth straight year, New Mexico placed at least three student-athletes on the all-conference team. This year, the Lobos once again led the league with three selections as Kailin Downs, Christine Fernandez and Ashley Rollins earned all-league accolades. Downs became the first four-time honoree in Mountain West history, while Rollins garnered back-to-back honors.
The Lobos own four of the top eight scoring averages in the MWC and Downs has been named the MWC Golfer of the Month twice this season. Downs is second in the league with a 74.12 average, while Christine Fernandez is third at 75.13. Ashley Rollins is seventh, Christina Spence is eighth, Giselle Claux is 15th and Alexandra Phelps is 23rd in the conference.
BY THE NUMBERS –
New Mexico has made 12 appearances at the NCAA Championships (1982, `83, `84, `85, `87, `88, `93, `95, `96, `98, 2001, 2004)
The Lobos have been ranked in the top 15 since Sept. 29, 2003 (82 straight weeks)
New Mexico has made 13 straight postseason appearances
UNM has claimed 13 conference championships
The Lobos have won 39 tournament titles in their history
The Lobos have won 12 tournament titles in the last four years
The Lobos currently have the 14th toughest schedule in the nation
The Lobos are 76-34 overall vs. all opponents in tournament play
LOBOS IN THE NCAA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS –
The NCAA expanded the tournament field in 1993 with the regional championships. The Lobos have participated in every regional championship, a span of 13 consecutive appearances.
The Lobos finished seventh at the 2004 Central Regional Championships at Illinois State
UNM’s best finish at the regionals came in 2001, when the Lobos placed fifth at the East Regional
New Mexico’s best three-round total arrived at the 1993 West Regional as the Lobos carded an 890 as a team
New Mexico’s top round as a team also came in 1993, when the Lobos shot a 296 in the first round
LAST YEAR AT THE NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:
LOBOS QUALIFY FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH SEVENTH-PLACE FINISH AT NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL (May 6-8) – The New Mexico women’s golf team qualified for the NCAA Championships for the 12th time in school history with a seventh-place showing at the 2004 NCAA Central Regional Championships, held at Illinois State’s University Golf Course.
The Lobos shot 298-320-300–918 (+66) for the tournament. Third-seeded Vanderbilt took first place with a 298-307-288–893 (+41), followed by ninth-seeded Arizona at 299-313-290–902 (+50). In addition to the Commodores and Wildcats, Michigan State, Southern California, Baylor, Purdue and Texas A&M also qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Individually for the Lobos, Kailin Downs and Ashley Rollins each tied for 17th with a 16-over 229. Downs (73-81-75) carded a 4-over 75 in the last round, while Rollins (73-82-74) shot a 3-over 74.
Katrina Leckovic carded her best round of the tournament on May 8, shooting a 4-over 75. Overall, Leckovic placed in a tie for 27th with a score of 76-80-75–231 (+18). Christine Fernandez shot a 76-80-78–234 (+21) to tie for 40th. Shannon Johnson improved each day in the tournament, and finished with an 81-79-76–236 (+23).
2004 FALL RECAP – The New Mexico women’s golf team wrapped up another successful fall season after winning the Landfall Tradition for the second straight year and by placing in the top 10 in all five of its tournaments. The Lobos closed out the fall ranked eighth in the Golf World College Coaches Poll and 12th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
Sophomore Ashley Rollins |
In their last tournament of the fall season, the Lobos placed ninth at the prestigious Collegiate Match Play Championship played in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla. UNM defeated UNLV, 4-1, on the last day of the tournament to claim the consolation bracket title. After falling in the first round to Florida, the seventh-seeded Lobos rattled off three straight victories in taking ninth place. The Lobos were one of only five teams in the tournament to win at least three matches.
The annual Collegiate Match Play Championship features 16 seeded teams in a double-elimination bracket while playing in a match-play format. The Lobos defeated 15th-seeded North Carolina and sixth-seeded Tennessee on the second day of the tournament.
Before the Match Play Championship, the Lobos won their second straight Landfall Tradition title Oct. 29-31 in Wilmington, N.C. New Mexico also placed in the top 10 in its first three tournaments, taking second at the Dick McGuire Invitational, seventh at the Stanford Intercollegiate and eighth at the NCAA Fall Preview.
Individually, Kailin Downs was named the Mountain West Golfer of the Month in September and October.
PLAYER NOTES –
DOWNS BECOMES FIRST FOUR-TIME ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREE IN MOUNTAIN WEST HISTORY – Senior Kailin Downs became the first player in the history of the Mountain West Conference to be named to the all-conference team four consecutive years after earning all-league honors at the 2005 Mountain West Championship awards banquet. Downs, one of the most prolific players in New Mexico history, will look to close her storied career as the all-time scoring average leader in the school record books. A two-time Mountain West Player of the Year (2002, 2003), her career average of 74.26 is currently on pace to topple Katrina Leckovic’s mark of 75.34.
Downs was named the Mountain West Golfer of the Month in October, marking the second time she has won the award this season and seventh in her career. She also garnered the award in September. Downs’ key performance to earn the award came at the Landfall Tradition, where she placed second with a career-best score of 211. She also took third at the Dick McGuire Invitational. Overall, she has placed in the top five on 15 occasions during her career, including a second-place finish at the Gamecock Classic March 11-13.
The Bend, Ore., product leads the team and is second in the Mountain West with a 74.12 scoring average. She is ranked 34th in the country by Golfweek.
Downs, who was named a Golfweek second-team preseason All-American for the second consecutive year, has established herself as one of the nation’s premier collegiate golfers and solidified her national standing with an excellent summer of golf. She advanced to the round of 32 in match play at the 2004 U.S. Women’s Amateur and won two of her three matches in helping lead Team USA past Japan in the 2004 Fuji Xerox U.S. vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championships held July 16-18 in Ichihara, Japan.
Downs earned honorable mention All-America honors for the second straight season in 2003-04 after setting a new UNM junior record with a 73.91 scoring average. She also owns the sophomore record (74.1). Downs was the 2004 recipient of the Edith Cummings Munson Award, which is presented by the NGCA to an individual based on academic and athletic achievement. She boasted a 3.82 GPA in General Management to earn NGCA Scholar-Athlete honors for the third straight season and also earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-America third team.
Last season, Downs was named the MWC Women’s Golfer of the Month in September after winning her first career tournament at the 2003 Dick McGuire Invitational and Co-MWC Golfer of the Month in February after placing fourth at the Northrup Grumman Regional Challenge. Downs was the only player in the conference to earn Golfer of the Month honors twice in 2002-03 (September and April). As a freshman, Downs garnered Golfer of the Month honors in October of 2001.
ASHLEY’S ROLLIN’ – Sophomore Ashley Rollins, who made a splash onto the collegiate golf scene her freshman season, earned All-Mountain West honors for the second straight year after tying for fourth at the conference championships, a career-best. A third-team preseason All-American by Golfweek, Rollins lived up to the hype in her first season as a Lobo, establishing a new freshman record at UNM with a 74.62 scoring average and finishing the season ranked No. 52. For her efforts, she was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Year and also earned All-MWC honors.
One of the top recruits in Coach Booth’s tenure, Rollins made the cut at the 2003 U.S. Women’s Amateur and won all four of her matches at the AJGA Canor Cup prior to attending UNM.
In her first action of the 2004-05 season, Rollins tied for 14th at the Dick McGuire Invitational with a 3-over 222. Rollins’ current scoring average is 76.13, good for seventh in the Mountain West. She is ranked 136th by Golfweek and 179th by Golf Stat.
FERNANDEZ LOOKING FOR EVEN MORE – Junior Christine Fernandez was a welcome addition to the 2003-04 Lobo squad after transferring from the University of Tulsa. After starting in all but one tournament last season, Fernandez has stepped up even more in her second year, and is now one of the elite players in the nation. She was named to the All-Mountain West team for her fourth place finish at the conference championships. Fernandez is ranked 72nd by Golfweek and 85th by Golf Stat with a 75.13 average, which is also good for third best in the MWC.
Junior Christine Fernandez |
Fernandez tied for 17th at the Dick McGuire Invitational in her first action of the 2004-05 season, but she really stepped into the national spotlight with a great showing at the NCAA Fall Preview. In a tournament that featured 16 ranked teams, Fernandez shot a 1-over 214 to tie for fifth, which was her best 54-hole total as a Lobo. She led the Lobos with a 217 at the Stanford Intercollegiate, marking her third top-20 finish of the season.
Fernandez finished in the top 10 in three tournaments last season, including a career-best tie for second at the Dr. Thompson Invitational in Hawai’i, where she shot a season-low round of 68 in the second round. She also placed in the top 10 at the Las Vegas Founders Women’s Collegiate Showdown and shot a season-low 219 to tie for ninth at the Mountain West Championships. The Las Vegas, Nev., native was the Lobos’ top finisher at the 2004 NCAA Championships, carding a 7-over 295 to tie for 33rd.
SPENCE PLAYING STRONG IN SENIOR SEASON – Senior Christina Spence, who garnered All-MWC accolades in 2002-03, is back into the starting lineup this season and is making the most of her senior season. Spence is eighth in the conference with a 76.19 scoring average in seven tournament appearances. She has placed in the top 20 five times this season, including season-best sixth-place showing at the Gamecock Classic. In her last Mountain West Championships, Spence placed 11th. She is ranked 129th by Golfweek and 154th by Golf Stat.
NEW ADDITION – Redshirt freshman Giselle Claux, a native of Lima, Peru, joined the Lobos for the 2004 spring season after sitting out fall competition. A talented golfer with international experience, Claux competed for the Peruvian National Team in several Junior South American tournaments. She placed fourth at the 2003 Junior South American tournament in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Claux has started in four tournaments in 2004-05 for UNM. In her first collegiate tournament, she tied for 78th at the Dick McGuire Invitational. She dramatically improved in her second tournament, tying for 31st at the Stanford Intercollegiate.
Claux really came alive at the Collegiate Match Play Championships, winning all four of her matches in the No. 5 position against Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and UNLV. In her first Mountain West Championships appearance, Claux placed a season-best 16th with a 235. She is ranked 15th in the Mountain West with a 77.78 average.
NEW ADDITION, Pt. 2 – Freshman Alexandra Phelps, a native of Albuquerque, is ready to contribute to her hometown Lobos. Phelps won the 2004 Class 5A state golf championship and also won the 2004 Albuquerque Women’s City Championship. She earned the Albuquerque Tribune Lighthouse Award/Athlete of the Year for girl’s golf in 2004. She played as an individual in the Dick McGuire Invitational and started in the NCAA Fall Preview and Stanford Intercollegiate. Phelps’ top performance of the season came at the Gamecock Classic, where she tied for ninth place with a 236. Phelps is ranked 23rd in the Mountain West with a 79.93 scoring average.
LAST TIME OUT –
UNM COMES UP JUST TWO STROKES SHORT OF MOUNTAIN WEST TITLE (April 21-23) – The No. 14 New Mexico women’s golf team came just two strokes short of claiming its fifth Mountain West title in six years as No. 25 UNLV bested the Lobos to claim its second straight Mountain West championship. For the tournament, UNLV shot a 46-over 898 (295-298-305), while the Lobos shot a 48-over 900 (300-294-306). The teams shared the lead throughout the final round, and were tied after 16 holes, but the Rebels got the best of UNM on the last two holes to claim the title.
Christine Fernandez and Ashley Rollins each tied for fourth place with an 11-over 224. Rollins shot a 4-over 75 in the third round, while Fernandez carded a 7-over 78.
Senior Kailin Downs took 10th place with a 15-over 228 (78-75-75). Fellow senior Christina Spence placed 11th with a 16-over 72-79-78–229. Giselle Claux tied for 16th place with an 80-74-81–235 (+22).