Park and Ras-Anderica Set to Take On Regionals
May 9, 2012
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – For the second straight year the University of Miami women’s golf team will be represented in the NCAA Regional. Freshmen Rika Park and Leticia Ras-Anderica each earned a trip to Columbus, Ohio, to compete in their first NCAA Regional. The Central Regional, hosted by The Ohio State University, is May 10-12 at the Ohio State University Golf Course (Scarlet Course).
This year the top eight teams in each of the three regional competitions (East, Central, West), in addition to the top two individuals from each region, will advance to the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships, May 22-25, at the Legends Club of Vanderbilt in Franklin, Tenn.
Both Park & Ras-Anderica will continue an impressive freshman campaign that has accounted for a combined 12 Top 20 finishes and seven Top 10 showings. As a team they led the Canes to several notable finishes including the Mary Fossum Invitational (fifth), Sir Pizza CARDS CHALLENGE (third), and a 54-hole first-place tie with the Buckeyes at the Hurricane Invitational.
Park continues to prove why she was heavily recruited out of high school, and was a winner of more than 10 International Junior Golf Tour competitions prior to her arrival at UM. In her collegiate career the native of Japan is averaging 75.45 strokes per round heading into Regionals, having placed in the Top 10 on three occasions.
“It’s an honor to be selected as one of the six individuals and I’m very happy about it,” said Park. “Having Leticia [Ras-Anderica] there will make me more comfortable and more competitive at the same time.”
Ras-Anderica has been playing sound after leading the Canes as low scorer for most of the season. The Spain native has a stroke average of 75.79 that has earned her four Top 10 finishes this season.
“It’s going to be a great experience,” said Ras-Anderica. “Both Rika and I have worked hard this season to achieve this and our next goal is to make it into Nationals.”
Also competing as individuals in the Central Regional will be four other talented golfers. Senior Madeleine Shiels of Nebraska was selected as a member of the 2012 All-Big Ten Team. Junior Alexandria Buelow from Stetson University enters the NCAA Regional ranked eighth individually in the nation, according to GolfStat.com. Junior Brittany Henderson of Costal Carolina is a three-time All-Big South Conference selection and will be making her third appearance in the regionals. Finally, freshman Gabriella Wahl of East Tennessee State is the 2012 A-Sun freshman of the year and a first-team all-league pick.
The field of schools that will be at this year’s Central Regional will consist of the following institutional participants (in the order of seed): USC, Auburn, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Ohio State, Oregon, NC State, Virginia, Florida State, Purdue, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Texas State, South Florida, Notre Dame, UTSA, East Carolina, Michigan, UNC Wilmington, Harvard, Butler and Siena.
The quest for the Nationals will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday May 10. Park will tee off on No. 1 at 8:55 a.m. and will be paired with Shiels and Buelow. Ras-Anderica will head to the back nine and tee off from No. 10 at 8:55 a.m. She will be paired with Henderson and Wahl.
Fans will be able to keep up-to-date with the Canes at the NCAA Central Regional by visiting Golfstat.com to access live scoring. In addition, HurricaneSports.com will have a full update following each round.
Central Regional
The Ohio State University Golf Course, Scarlet Course
School Participants: (Conference Champions)
1. Southern California
2. Auburn (Southeastern Conference)
3. Georgia
4. Vanderbilt
5. Tennessee
6. Ohio St.
7. Oregon
8. North Carolina St.
9. Virginia
10. Florida St.
11. Purdue
12. Arkansas
13. Ole Miss
14. Kentucky
15. Texas St.
16. South Fla. (Big East Conference)
17. Notre Dame
18. UTSA (Southland Conference)
19. East Carolina
20. Michigan
21. UNC Wilmington (Colonial Athletic Association)
22. Harvard (The Ivy League)
23. Butler (Horizon League)
24. Siena (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
Individual Participants:
1. Madeleine Shiels, Nebraska
2. Alex Buelow, Stetson
3. Rika Park, Miami (FL)
4. Brittany Henderson, Costal Carolina
5. Leticia Ras-Anderica, Miami (FL)
6. Gabriella Wahl, East Tenn. St.
East Regional
Penn State Golf Course, Blue Course
School Participants:
1. Alabama
2. Arizona St.
3. Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)
4. Texas A&M
5. Florida
6. Arizona
7. Oklahoma St.
8. South Carolina
9. Michigan St. (Big Ten Conference)
10. Washington
11. Texas
12. Tulane
13. UCF
14. Wake Forest
15. Northwestern
16. San Diego St.
17. Kent St. (Mid-American Conference)
18. Maryland
19. Augusta St.
20. Campbell (Big South Conference)
21. Chattanooga (Southern Conference)
22. Oral Roberts (The Summit League)
23. Jacksonville St. (Ohio Valley Conference)
24. LIU Brooklyn (Northeast Conference)
Individual Participants:
1. Fanny Cnops, UNC-Greensboro
2. Charlotte Lorentzen, Georgia St.
3. Kelly Shon, Princeton
4. Katie Mundy, Florida International
5. Michelle Piyapattra, Columbia
6. Laura Wearn, Furman
West Regional
Colorado National Golf Club
School Participants:
1. UCLA
2. LSU
3. North Carolina
4. Colorado
5. California (Pac-12 Conference)
6. Baylor
7. Pepperdine (West Coast Conference)
8. UC Davis (Big West Conference)
9. Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference)
10. Texas Tech
11. Tulsa (Conference USA)
12. TCU (Mountain West Conference)
13. Iowa St.
14. Stanford
15. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
16. UNLV
17. New Mexico
18. Oregon St.
19. Illinois
20. Kennesaw St. (Atlantic Sun Conference)
21. San Jose St. (Western Atlantic Conference)
22. Missouri St. (Missouri Valley Conference)
23. Northern Colo. (Big Sky Conference)
24. Jackson St. (Southwestern Athletic Conference)
Individual Patricipants:
1. Kayla Mortellaro, Idaho
2. Ally McDonald, Mississippi St.
3. Amy Anderson, North Dakota St.
4. Maggie Yuan, BYU
5. Brianna Espinoza, Colorado St.
6. Demi Mak, New Mexico St.
