No. 19 Illinois selected to NCAA East Lansing Regional

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – As announced by the NCAA and on the Golf Channel Wednesday evening, the No. 19 Illinois women's golf team heads to Forest Akers West Golf Course in East Lansing, Mich. for NCAA Regionals on May 6-8. The Illini will make their third consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and seventh in program history.  

"Great to stay in the Midwest and in conditions we are used to," said head coach Renee Slone. "The golf courses are similar to what we are used to playing here."

Illinois is was one of 72 teams selected to the NCAA field, with 18 teams and six individuals not on a qualifying team competing at each of four sites. The top six teams and three individuals not on a qualifying team, from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships at the 2019 NCAA Women's Golf Championship set for May 17-22 at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. The final three days of the Arkansas hosted event will be televised live by the Golf Channel.

Illinois will be the No. 7 seed in a region that features No. 1 seed Stanford, 2018 NCAA National Champion No. 2 seed Arizona, 2019 MAC Champion No. 3 seed Kent State, 2018 NCAA participant No. 4 seed UCLA, and host No. 5 seed Michigan State. Also, in the regional are Big South Champion No. 6 seed Campbell University, No. 8 seed Baylor, No. 9 Seed North Carolina, No. 10 seed Georgia, No. 11 seed Louisville, No. 12 seed Augusta, No. 13 seed LSU, No. 14 seed Indiana, Big West Champion No. 15 Seed Long Beach State, Big East Champion No. 16 seed Xavier, The Ivy League Champion No. 17 Harvard, and Horizon League Champion No. 18 seed IUPUI.

"For us this season, it has been sticking to our game and process," noted Slone. "We want to utilize the practice round to its fullest."

The Orange and Blue enters the postseason ranked No. 19 nationally by Golfweek. Joining the Illini are 13 other teams in Golfweek's top 50, including No. 4 Stanford, No. 8 Arizona, No. 12 UCLA, No. 14 Kent State, No. 19 Illini, No. 25 Campbell, No. 28 Baylor, No. 38 Georgia, No. 34 Louisville, No. 40 North Carolina, No. 46 LSU, and No. 50 Augusta. Along with Illinois, host Michigan State and Indiana will be representing the Big Ten at the East Lansing Regional.
 
The individual qualifiers in East Lansing will be Hee Ying Loy (East Tennessee State), Emma Albrecht (Notre Dame), Kirsty Hodgkins (Colorado – Boulder), Cecilie Finne-Ipsen (North Carolina at Charlotte), Ashley Lau (Michigan), and Tereza Melecka (East Tennessee State).

Michigan State's Forest Akers West is continually recognized as one of the best public golf courses in Michigan and was selected as one of the "Best Campus Courses in 2018" by Golfweek magazine. The par-72, 6,387-yard layout has hosted several championships including the 1998 and 2008 Big Ten Men's Golf Championship, the 2002 NCAA Women's Central Regional, the 1994 NCAA Women's East Regional, and the 1997 and 2007 Women's Big Ten Championships.

Illinois is coming off their second-straight runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships, matching the program's best finish at the conference tournament, which was also met in 1976 and 2018. The Illini's 578 (+2) marked the second-best 36-hole tournament score in program history. Leading the way were freshmen duo Crystal Wang and Kornkamol Sukaree, who both tied for eighth with an even-par 144. This tied for the fifth lowest 36-hole tournament total in program history.

"We are working on improving our par-3 play and continued refinement with short play and wedge play," said Slone.

Last season, the Illini earned their highest regional finish in program history, finishing seventh overall with 866 (+2). The Orange and Blue were one spot away from qualifying to the 2018 NCAA Championships.

Regional Field – May 6-8, 2019

The regional fields and predetermined host sites on the road to the 2019 NCAA Women's Golf Championships are as follows:

Auburn Regional (at Auburn – Saugahatchee Country Club in Opelika, Ala.)

1. Duke University
2. Vanderbilt University
3. Florida State University
4. Auburn University*
5. University of Virginia
6. Furman University (Southern Conference)
7. Clemson University 
8. University of Houston (American Athletic Conference)
9. Kennesaw State University (Atlantic Sun Conference)
10. University of Alabama
11. University of Tennessee, Knoxville
12. University of California, Berkeley
13. University of Maryland, College Park
14. East Carolina University
15. University of Denver (The Summit League)
16. University of South Alabama (Sun Belt Conference)
17. University at Albany (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
18. Murray State University (Ohio Valley Conference)

Cle Elum Regional (at Washington – Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum, Wash.)

1. University of Southern California (Pac-12 Conference)
2. University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
3. University of South Carolina, Columbia
4. Northwestern University
5. University of Washington*
6. University of Miami (Florida)
7. University of Oregon 
8. San Jose State University
9. Oregon State University
10. Old Dominion University
11. Iowa State University
12. San Diego State University (Mountain West Conference)
13. University of Central Florida
14. The Ohio State University (Big Ten Conference)
15. California State University, Sacramento (Big Sky Conference)
16. New Mexico State University (Western Athletic Conference)
17. Boston University (Patriot League) 
18. Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (Missouri Valley Conference)

East Lansing Regional (at Michigan State – Forest Akers West Golf Course in East Lansing, Mich.)

1. Stanford University 
2. University of Arizona
3. Kent State University (Mid-American Conference)
4. University of California, Los Angeles
5. Michigan State University*
6. Campbell University (Big South Conference)
7. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
8. Baylor University
9. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
10. University of Georgia
11. University of Louisville
12. Augusta University
13. Louisiana State University
14. Indiana University, Bloomington
15. Long Beach State University (Big West Conference)
16. Xavier University (Big East Conference)
17. Harvard University (The Ivy League)
18. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (Horizon League)

Norman Regional (at Oklahoma – Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla.)

1. University of Texas at Austin (Big 12 Conference)
2. Wake Forest University (Atlantic Coast Conference)
3. University of Florida
4. Arizona State University
5. University of Oklahoma*
6. Texas Christian University
7. Pepperdine University
8. Purdue University
9. University of Mississippi (Southeastern Conference)
10. Texas Tech University
11. Mississippi State University
12. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
13. North Carolina State University
14. Texas A&M University, College Station
15. University of Texas at San Antonio (Conference USA)
16. University of North Carolina Wilmington (Colonial Athletic Association)
17. Sam Houston State University (Southland Conference)
18. Fairleigh Dickinson University, Metropolitan Campus (Northeast Conference)

* indicates host site

Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution.

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