April 30, 2007

Columbia, S.C. – For the ninth consecutive season and the 12th time in the last 13 years under Head Coach Kristi Coggins, the South Carolina women’s golf team is included in the NCAA Regional Championship field, it was announced today.

Ranked as the No. 25 team in the nation in both this week’s Golfweek and the Golfstat polls, the Gamecocks are the ninth seed among the 21 teams competing at the NCAA East Regional played from May 10-12 at the University Club Golf Course in Baton Rouge, La.

“I feel good about this team going into the regional,” Coggins said. “We are peaking at the right time and I like our odds.”

Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each of the three regionals to comprise the field of the NCAA Championship, to be played May 22-25 at the LPGA International Legends Course in Daytona Beach, Fla. Should the Gamecocks advance to the NCAA Championship this year, it would mark the ninth time in program history and the seventh time under Coggins’ watch that Carolina has accomplished the feat.

The Gamecocks are one of 10 top-25 teams competing in the East Regional. In addition, the nation’s No. 26 team is also included in the East Regional field. None of the other three regionals has more than eight top-25 teams.

“That’s usually the case year in and year out,” Coggins said of the wealth of talent in the East Regional. “This part of the country is so deep when it comes to golf and there are so many good teams. We’re actually happy with how the fields look and we’re happy to be playing at LSU where we have already played once this spring.”

South Carolina will be led into regional play by senior and second-team all-SEC performer Jenna Pearson, who is ranked as the No. 41 player in the nation after finishing tied for fifth at the SEC Championship. Junior Blythe Worley finished the season strong by finishing 10th at the SEC Championship, with fellow junior Camila Mori tying for 18th at SECs. Freshman Bénédicte Toumpsin and junior Whitney Simons round out the Carolina lineup for the NCAA East Regional, with Toumpsin flirting with a spot in the top-100 national rankings. A good showing at the regional should bump Toumpsin from her No. 103 national ranking into the top 100.

The Gamecocks are one of nine SEC teams included in the NCAA regional field. No other conference placed more than seven of its teams in the postseason.

NCAA East Regional Field (Golfweek Ranking)
1. Duke (2)
2. UCLA (12)
3. Auburn (5)
4. Purdue (7)
5. Texas A&M (14)
6. North Carolina (17)
7. Alabama
8. Wake Forest (18)
9. South Carolina (25)
10. Virginia (21)
11. Florida State (23)
12. LSU
13. Louisville
14. South Florida
15. NC State
16. Birmingham Southern
17. Furman
18. College of Charleston
19. Western Carolina
20. Jacksonville State
21. Jackson State

NCAA Central Regional Field (Golfweek Ranking)
1. Georgia (3)
2. Vanderbilt (9)
3. Southern California (6)
4. Tennessee (13)
5. Arizona (15)
6. Michigan State (20)
7. TCU (24)
8. Baylor
9. Arkansas
10. Kent State
11. Ohio State
12. Northwestern
13. Michigan
14. Missouri
15. SMU
16. Maryland
17. Indiana
18. UNC-Wilmington
19. Oral Roberts
20. Southern Illinois
21. St. Francis (Pa.)

NCAA West Regional Field (Golfweek Ranking)
1. Arizona State (1)
2. Pepperdine (4)
3. Florida (8)
4. Oklahoma State (10)
5. BYU (16)
6. Stanford (11)
7. Denver (22)
8. New Mexico (19)
9. UC Irvine
10. San Jose State
11. UNLV
12. San Francisco
13. Hawaii
14. California
15. Idaho
16. Washington State
17. Campbell
18. Nebraska
19. Memphis
20. Sacramento State
21. Columbia-Barnard