Cougars finished 16th at NCAA West Regionals

STANFORD -- Carrie Summerhays, in her last tournament as a Cougar, shot even-par 72 to lead BYU to a 16th place finish at the 2002 NCAA West Regional on Saturday.

Summerhay's final round at BYU was a good one, as the one-time honorable mention All-American earned another top-25 finish ending the tournament in a tie for 23rd at nine-over par 225.

"This was a good way to finish my BYU career," Summerhays said. "I just wish I could have played a little better in the first two rounds, but it was a nice for our team to come out and play well today."

All five Cougar golfers shot 78 or less on the challenging Stanford Golf Course helping BYU move up two spots on the final day of competition.

"I'm real happy with the way we finished today," BYU head coach Sue Nyhus said. "Everybody played well and we showed that this team is capable of playing great golf."

Sophomore Nicole Newren shot a final round 76 to finish tied for 71st while Junior Jessica Gardner carded a six-over 78 and finished tied for 74th. True freshman Natalie Newren finished her first NCAA regional tournament in 85th place after matching her sister with a four-over 76. Senior Lisa Hardy ended her BYU career with a strong final round 76 and finishing in 86th place.

BYU entered the tournament as the 16th seed and, thanks to a solid final round, was able to keep their seeding. With the third-round 300 the Cougars improved upon last season's 18th place finish, but missed the cut for the NCAA Championships for the ninth straight appearance.

UCLA turned in an even par 288 to tie Pepperdine for the West Regional title. MWC champion New Mexico was fifth heading into the final day, but faded and finished 10th just missing the cut to make it into the NCAA Championships. Sophomore sensation Lorena Ocha of Arizona won the individual title by five strokes shooting 70-70-70--210 six-under-par.

With three of BYU's top five players returning next season and several talented new recruits coming in, the Cougars look to return this fall with experience and a determination to improve upon this year's 16th place finish and qualify for the NCAA Championships.

2002 NCAA WEST REGIONAL FINAL TEAM SCORES
1, Pepperdine                289-303-291--883  +19
1. UCLA                      296-299-288--883  +19
3. California                297-298-294--889  +25
4. Arizona                   299-300-291--890  +26
5. Stanford                  303-304-294--901  +37
6. Arizona State             308-304-292--904  +40
6. Washington                310-303-291--904  +40
8. USC                       309-307-292--908  +44
9. San Francisco             315-304-295--914  +50
10. New Mexico               302-307-306--915  +51
11. San Jose                 319-299-303--921  +57
11. New Mexico St.           311-310-300--921  +57
13. Washington St.           317-320-296--933  +69
14. Colorado State           315-312-313--940  +76
15. Idaho                    314-318-309--941  +77
16. BYU                      326-318-300--944  +80
17. UC Irvine                326-311-313--950  +86
18. No. Arizona              323-320-310--953  +89
20. Denver                   324-330-310--963  +99
19. Campbell                 319-332-316--967  +103
21. Oral Roberts             335-324-322--981  +117
BYU INDIVIDUAL SCORES
T23. Carrie Summerhays       79-74-72--225
T71. Nicole Newren           82-81-76--239
T74. Jessica Gardner         83-79-78--240
85.  Natalie Newren          82-86-76--244
T86. Lisa Dernick            85-84-76--245