5. 14.2012
controlled chaos best describes the ncaa women’s regionals, where finishing eighth is as good as being first as far
as qualifying for the national championship—but is far more
stressful. such was the case for a handful of top-ranked
schools. most notable was the plight/fight of no. 5 duke.
the acc champions squeaked by with a t- 6 performance
at the east regional after an injury to alejandra cangrejo
in the first round forced them to compete with four golfers.
memories of missing out with five golfers last year didn’t
help matters, but the blue devils hung on with solid performances from lindy duncan (shown), stacey kim and
courtney ellenbogen. meanwhile, no. 6 arizona state was
in 13th place after one round in the east but scrapped to finish t- 6 and extend the nation’s longest ncaa appearance
streak to 21. conversely, no. 3 auburn and no. 9 california
couldn’t overcome slow starts at the central and west
regional, finishing 12th and t- 9 to start their summers early.
still, some schools have regionals figured out. no. 1 ucla
shared the west title with lsu, giving the defending ncaa
champs their seventh regional victory. no. 4 usc took the
central crown, the sixth time they’ve won in seven years.
then there’s south carolina, the east champs for the second
time in three years—despite not having won a regular-sea-son tournament since 2005. for a list of teams advancing
from each regional, go to our Campus Insider blog.
—Ryan Herrington (@GWcampusinsider)
09a stressful week at regionals
Jon gardiner/duke photography
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