May 5, 2004

Complete Results

LAS CRUCES, NM - With four players shooting between 76 and 80, the Western Washington University women's golf team battled back from a 13-stroke first-day deficit and earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II National Championships by placing second at the West Regional which ended Wednesday at the 6,336-yard, par 73 University Golf Course on the campus of New Mexico State University.

The Vikings shot 313 for a 54-hole total of 965. That was the best round of the day by nine strokes and tied the best of the tournament.

Western will be among eight teams, two from each of the four regionals, advancing to the national tournament on May 12-15 at The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes in Longwood, Florida.

No.3-seed Northeastern State OK took the West Region team title for the second straight year, leading from start to finish, with a two-day total of 959 after a final-round 322. No.1-seed St. Mary's TX was third, shooting 322 Tuesday for a 969 total, four strokes behind Western.

Host Western New Mexico was fourth (329=974), Central Oklahoma fifth (334=992) and Tarleton State TX sixth (341=995).

Western, the No.6 seed, entered final-day play fourth in the team standings, trailing Northeastern State by 15 strokes and St. Mary's by 13.

"I'm so proud of this team," said Western coach Dean Russell. "Emotionally it just got to me, to see these girls come back.

"Last night, we talked about what we needed to do and figured that we would need a number between 310 and 315. We started out red-hot today and made the turn at 300 pace. When we got through our tough holes of 10 through 14, I knew we had a chance."

Western's Kelly White (Sr., Monroe), who earned second-team All-America honors last year, tied for fifth in medalist play at 238, shooting a final-round 5-over par 78. White opened the final round with pars on each of the first 11 holes.

The Vikings' Sarah Cooper (Marysville/Archbishop Murphy) shot 80 and placed seventh at 239. Katie Bender (Fr., Tacoma/Bellarmine Prep) shot 79 to finish 11th at 243, and Katja Trygg (So., Bainbridge Island) shot 76 to tie for 14th at 245.

Completing Western's scoring was Candice Wagner (Milton/Fife), who shot 86 and tied for 32nd at 262.

"We came in here with some people questioning if we were worthy of the sixth pick in our region," Russell said. "Now, we are among the top eight in the country."

The regional medalist was Danielle Miron from Northeastern State. She shot 6-over 225 (80), firing a course-round 67 in the first round. Tied for second at 233, eight shots behind Miron, were two Western New Mexico players, Katharine Dorris and Kristen Kennedy.

The trip to nationals will be Western's first as a NCAA II member. The Vikings went twice while affiliated with the NAIA, placing eighth in 1998 and 10th in 1997.

White, who placed fourth at regionals last year, played at nationals as an individual in 2003, finishing 10th.