UW Advances to NCAA Championships for Third Time in Four Years

Wednesday, May 8

Suncadia, WA

All Day

University of Washington

NCAA Cle Elum Regionals

UW Advances to NCAA Championships for Third Time in Four Years

May 08, 2019 | Women's Golf

Results

CLE ELUM, Wash. – The University of Washington women's golf team finished second at the NCAA Cle Elum Regional to earn their third bid in four years to the NCAA Championships. The Huskies posted a 5-under 859 (285-291-281) at Tumble Creek Golf Club and were led by sophomore Rino Sasaki who finished tied for second. The 2019 NCAA National Championships take place May 17-22 at the Blessings Golf Course in Fayetteville, Ark.

"Making the NCAAs for the third time in four years, especially for these seniors, is really special," said head coach Mary Lou Mulflur. "For them to have won it all as freshmen and now get a chance to close their career there is exciting. It's also great for Rino, who is playing so well right now, and for Alice, who has been a great addition to our team. We're excited to get out there and compete."

The Huskies were never out of contention for making the six-team squad that advanced as they sat in second all day and saved their best round for last posting a 7-under 281 on Wednesday. They were joined by USC, who finished first, Northwestern, Arkansas, San Jose State and UCF.

"We just played really solid all week," added Mulflur. "We were steady and played with confidence which is what we wanted to see. This team just keeps growing and getting better as this year has progressed and we saw that this week."

Sasaki was UW's top finisher as she earned her best showing of the season with her tie for second. She turned in a 10-under 206 (68-70-68). Her final scorecard was clean with four birdies to match her first round score of 68. It is her lowest career score and the best by a Husky this season.

"Rino played so steady this week, I was just so proud of her," said Mulflur. "She keeps getting better and better which is what you want to see, especially heading into nationals."

Senior Julianne Alvarez climbed 12 spots on the leaderboard during her final round to finish with a 2-over 218 (73-75-70) to tie for 17^th. Also finishing with a 2-over 218 (73-74-71) was fellow senior Sarah Rhee who moved five spots up the board on Wednesday.

Junior Alice Duan, who is in her first year with the Huskies, placed tied for 28^th with her 4-over 220 (74-74-72) while senior Wenyung Keh finished 77^th at 16-over 232 (71-85-76).

"I would also just like to give a special thanks to the staff at Tumble Creek, the NCAA staff and the UW staff that put on a seriously spectacular tournament," said Mulflur. "Every team that was here was beyond impressed with how special those people made the event and it just ran so smoothly. We were very lucky to have them and it just meant a lot as the host school."