April 30, 2012

COLUMBIA, S.C. –South Carolina has been selected to compete in its 14th straight NCAA Women’s Golf Championship as it earned a bid to play in the East Regional in State College, Pa. on May 10-12 at the Penn State Golf Course, the NCAA announced Monday night.

The Gamecocks, who are No. 24 in the latest Golfstat rankings, received the No. 8 seed and will vie for their second regional title and a berth to the NCAA Championship against a field of 24-teams, while six individuals will play for medalist honors. Eight teams and two individuals from each regional site will advance to the NCAA Championship.

“We are obviously excited to go compete in the regional,” said South Carolina head coach Kalen Harris, who has guided the Gamecocks to five straight NCAA Regionals. “We are ready to go compete and try to take care of business. It’s a very deep region. We are going to have to play solid golf. We’ve had a little bit of down time this past week, and this week is about preparing before we leave next Tuesday. We just need to go play Carolina golf and look to advance at the end of the week.”

Joining the Gamecocks are 16 teams ranked in the nation’s top 50, including No. 2 Alabama, No. 17 Arizona, No. 5 Arizona State, No. 8 Duke, No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 14 Florida, No. 19 Oklahoma State, No. 25 Michigan State, No. 26 Washington, No. 30 Texas, No. 32 Tulane, No. 38 UCF, No. 42 Wake Forest, No. 43 Northwestern and No. 45 San Diego State. Augusta State, Campbell, Chattanooga, Jacksonville State, Kent State, LIU Brooklyn, Maryland and Oral Roberts round out the field.

Last season, the Gamecocks played in the West Regional for the first time in program history and produced a sixth-place finish. Suzie Lee and Samantha Swinehart were the top finishers for Carolina as they each shot a 222 (+6) to tie for 15th.

Carolina won the East Regional in 2010, the program’s first regional title. Katie Burnett led the way by claiming medalist honors with a score of 210 (-6) to become the school’s third regional champion.

This year marks the 17th overall appearance for the Gamecocks in a NCAA Regional. Carolina has advanced to the NCAA Championship 11 times, including last season.

Carolina is one of 11 SEC programs to make the field of 72 this season. The complete NCAA Championship field can be found at NCAA.com.

2012 NCAA EAST REGIONAL
May 10-12 – Penn State Golf Course – State College, Pa.
1. Alabama
2. Arizona State
3. Duke
4. Texas A&M
5. Florida
6. Arizona
7. Oklahoma State
8. South Carolina
9. Michigan State
10. Washington
11. Texas
12. Tulane
13. UCF
14. Wake Forest
15. Northwestern
16. San Diego State
17. Kent State
18. Maryland
19 Augusta State
20 Campbell
21. Chattanooga
22. Oral Roberts
23. Jacksonville State
24. LIU Brooklyn

Individuals
Fanny Cnops, UNC-Greensboro
Charlotte Lorentzen, Georgia State
Kelly Shon, Princeton
Katie Mundy, FIU
Michelle Piyapattra, Columbia
Laura Wearn, Furman