April 27, 2004

The West Texas A&M University golfers qualified for the NCAA-II Regionals, with the men's team qualifying for the first time as a team in school history, while junior Meredith Easley from the women's team qualified for the second-straight year.

The men qualified for the NCAA-II South/South Central Super Regional at Springfield, Mo., May 3-5 at Millwood Golf and Racquet Club, hosted by Drury University. WTAMU is one of the eight teams selected, joining fellow Lone Star Conference schools Northeastern State, Cameron, Central Oklahoma, Southwestern Oklahoma State and Abilene Christian, as well as St. Mary's (Texas) and St. Edward's from the Heartland Conference.

Ten teams and ten individuals will advance from the super regionals to the championship finals May 12-15, at Victoria Hills Country Club in DeLand, Florida as part of the NCAA Division II Sports Festival. Eight at-large teams and two at-large individuals will be selected May 6 for the championship finals. The finals will be hosted by the Central Florida Sports Commission, Sunshine State Conference and Rollins College.

"We are very pleased to have advanced to the point of earning a Regional Championship selection," WTAMU head coach Brad Borden said. "This has been a goal of our's this season. We felt that we would be capable of qualifying for the regional since we began in the fall and have talked about it all year long. Looking at the established and nationally successful golf programs in the South Central Region, a spot in the regional is quite an achievement for a third year program."

"I am very proud of our team in several respects. First, we are truly a team representative of Texas and specifically West Texas," Borden said. "Our area players have committed to our program and to becoming competitive quickly. Secondly, our success has truly been a team effort. Our averages and statistics have shown us to be a very consistent group. It has seemed that in each tournament this spring we have had one or two different players step up at the right time to help us achieve our goal.

On the women's side, Easley qualified for the NCAA-II West Regional May 4-5 at Las Cruces, N.M. at University Golf Course. The 54-hole tournament is hosted by Western New Mexico University.

Easley finished second at the Lone Star Conference Championships, earning first-team All-LSC honors for the second-straight year. Easley finished third at last year's West Regional, as WTAMU finished sixth as a team. Her score did qualify her for the National Championships, where she finished 11th.

"We are excited that Meredith Easley will again have a chance to qualify for the national championship with a good showing at the regional," Borden said. "Meredith has had another great season and is very deserving of the individual spot in the regional. Our region has continued to improve almost exponentially. This can be illustrated by the fact that our women's team finished the season ranked #23 in the nation and did not qualify for the regional. Meredith has her work cut out for her to advance this year, but I believe that she has the game and the competitiveness to not only qualify but to even win the regional championship."

The top two teams along with the top two individuals not with a team, from each regional, will advance to the championships. The 2004 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championships will be held May 12-15, at The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes in Longwood, Florida, and will be hosted by the Central Florida Sports Commission in conjunction with the Division II National Championships Festival.

For more information on the NCAA-II Regionals, check out the NCAA Sports and Championships web site: www.ncaasports.com.