Concordia Selected to Compete at NAIA Championships for Fourth Straight Year
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) released the qualifiers for the 14th Annual NAIA Women's Golf National Championship. The tournament will be held at Lake San Marcos Country Club in San Diego, Calif., May 20-23, 2008.
Concordia, in only its fifth season as a program, has been selected to compete at the NAIA championships four straight seasons. The Cavaliers highest finish at the national event was in their first appearance with an eighth-place result in 2005. Last season CU placed 15th overall and are currently ranked No. 16 according to the latest NAIA poll.
Concordia, under guidance of first-year head coach Ronn Grove, has captured three tournament wins this year and have placed second in team standings on two other occasions. The Cavs are led by Cascade Collegiate Conference Player of the Year Lindsay Aho. Joining Aho are fellow first-team all-conference players Kim Lindow, Kim Tilton and Amy Esmeier.
This year's championship will feature 23 teams, include 13 region champions and 10 at-large bids, and five individual qualifiers.
Berry (Ga.), Bethel (Ind.), British Columbia, California-San Marcos, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), Embry-Riddle (Fla.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Malone (Ohio), Oklahoma City, Park (Mo.), St. Ambrose (Iowa), Tennessee Wesleyan and William Woods (Mo.) all received an automatic bid after winning their respective region tournaments.
California Baptist, Concordia (Ore.), Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), Lubbock Christian (Texas), Mobile (Ala.), Rocky Mountain (Mont.), SCAD (Ga.), Shorter (Ga.), Southern Nazarene (Okla.) and Victoria (B.C.) received an at-large bid.
Five individual qualifiers earned the trip to San Diego. Valeria Cogollo, Waldorf (Iowa) (Region VII Medalist), Angela Gauck, Marian (Ind.) (Region VIII Medalist), Blair Koehn, Southwestern (Kan.) (Region IV Medalist), Carrie Rowe, Webber International (Fla.) (Region XIV Medalist) and Tammy Schumacher, Walsh (Ohio) (Region IX Medalist) received an automatic qualification to the national championships.