Cougar Prepare for 2001 NCAA West Regional

Provo, Utah--BYU makes its eighth trip to the NCAA West Regional Tournament in nine years as it attempts qualify for the national championships on Thursday in Corvallis, Ore. at Trysting Tree Golf Course.

The Cougars were invited as the 18th seed after a fourth place finish at the MWC Championships. BYU was slowed down by final exams the week of the MWC championships, but are now motivated to prove they are a strong team.

At last year's NCAA Regional, the Cougars finished 20th thanks to a sixth-place performance by All-American Carrie Summerhays. With the performance, Summerhays qualified as an individual for the NCAA Championships. The Cougars entered last season's West Regional as the 23nd seed, but played well enough to defeated several higher seeded teams. BYU head coach Gary Howard feels confident in his teams' ability to finish higher than their regional seeding.

"We're confident we can compete and finish higher than our seeding," Howard said. "We've got to play our best golf for three straight days, which is something we've struggled to do this season.

Eighteen holes will be played each of the three days with the top-four scores counting toward the overall team total. The top eight teams will advance to the finals May 22-25 at the Mission Inn Golf and Tennis Resort at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

BYU has qualified for the NCAA Championships once in 1985 and three times for the AIAW National Team Championships in 1979, 1980 and 1982. The Cougars finished 14th in 1985 and finished 11th at the 1979 AIAW National Championships.

Four teams from the Mountain West Conference were invited to compete in the three NCAA Regionals across the nation. New Mexico is a No. 8 seed and SDSU is a No. 14 seed in the East Regional at Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C. while Colorado State, a No. 15 seed, and BYU, a No. 18 seed in the West. A total of 321 participants have been selected for regional competition, and 126 of those players will advance to the finals May 22-25 at the

WEST REGIONAL May 10-12, 2001

Trysting Tree Golf Course,

Corvallis, Ore.

TEAMS (national ranking)

1. Arizona (No. 2)

2. Southern California (No. 4)

3. Stanford (No.5)

4. Tennessee (No.7)

5. Ohio State (No. 12)

6. Arizona State (No. 20)

7. UCLA (No. 27)

8. Michigan State (No. 17)

9. Washington (No. 35)

10. Furman (No. 31)

11. Indiana (No. 26)

12. Oregon

13. Memphis

14. Missouri (No. 32)

15. Colorado State

16. Nevada

17. Oregon State

18. Brigham Young

19. Central Connecticut State

20. Southwest Missouri State

21. Weber State

BYU's Past NCAA Regional Finishes

2000 20th

1999 DNP

1998 20th

1997 16th

1996 14th

1995 18th

1994 13th

1993 11th

*NCAA began the regional qualifying format in 1993