Monday, April 26, 2021

INDIANAPOLIS – Western Washington is one of nine teams selected to compete at the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf West Regional, which will take place on May 3-5 at the Wildhorse Golf Club at Robson Ranch in Denton, Texas.

The Vikings claimed their sixth GNAC title and their first in six years at the 2021 GNAC Women’s Golf Championships on April 19-20 at The Home Course in DuPont, Washington. They finished atop the team leaderboard with a score of 627, 11 strokes ahead of second-place Northwest Nazarene, to earn the conference’s automatic bid. This is Western Washington’s 11th Division II Championships appearance.

Entering the regional tournament as the No. 9 seed, Western Washington leads the GNAC with a 320.7 stroke average. The Vikings have the conference’s top four players in stroke average, led by freshman Elise Sumner at 79.5 over 10 rounds with a pair of top-five finishes and one top-10 finish. Sumner is the only player in the GNAC with an average below 80. She placed sixth at the GNAC Championships at 158.

All four scoring players for Western Washington at the GNAC Championships placed in the top 10. Freshman Dani Bailey and sophomore Sarah Shea led the Vikings in a tie for third place with scores of 156. Bailey is second in the conference with an 80.7 stroke average while Shea is fourth at 81.3.

Junior Kolby Heggenes enters the regional tournament with an 83.5 stroke average over eight rounds. She bolstered the Vikings’ conference title chase with a fifth-place finish at 157. Freshman Sophia Schmidt will also look to make an impact as she is ranked third in the conference with an 81.2 stroke average.

Dallas Baptist earned the West Region’s No. 1 seed. Other West Region teams selected for the tournament are Texas A&M-Commerce, Oklahoma Christian, St. Mary’s (Texas), West Texas A&M, Arkansas-Fort Smith, Point Loma and Westminster (Utah).

A field of 36 teams and 16 individuals will participate in regional competition. The top three teams from each regional will advance to the championships on May 11-15 at TPC Michigan in Dearborn, Michigan.