Fresh off a thrilling one-shot victory at the Mountain West Conference championship, the UNM women's golf team will have a chance to strut its stuff at the regional level in Lincoln, Neb. May 8-10.
A top-eight finish at the Central Regional will give the Lobos a birth in the NCAA Championship later this month.
The Lobos, ranked 12th in the nation and seeded fifth for regional competition, will have their hands full at the 6,023-yard, par-71 Firethorn Golf Club. Twenty-one teams in all, including four of the 11 ranked in the nation, will be standing between UNM and the title.
But the Lobos have seen and conquered big fields before - they beat No. 8 University of California on their way to a third-place finish at the UCLA Bruin Classic. Also burned by UNM this season was No. 4 University of Texas.
"We've seen those teams and we know they're beatable," head coach Jackie Booth said.
She added that her team is still riding high on confidence after the big win at the MWC championship and has set a top-three finish as its goal.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"I definitely feel like we could win, but I don't care if we finish first or eighth, we just want to go to nationals," Booth said.
The Lobos will roll into Lincoln with the same lineup that prevailed in Sunriver, Ore., in the conference tournament.
Red-hot sophomore Kailin Downs, the MWC Player of the Year, will look to improve on her already-miniscule 73.68 stroke average. Downs has finished in the top-five six times in 2002-03, including a third-place showing in Oregon.
Perhaps no player is feeling more confident than Lobo junior Katrina Leckovic, though. She took home individual medalist honors at the MWC championship, due in part to a scintillating 4-under-par-67 in the second round. Leckovic held off a late charge from UNLV's Sunny Oh to take the title.
MWC all-conference selections Shannon Johnson and Christina Spence, both sophomores, should also prove valuable assets for the young Lobos in their bid for a trip to the NCAAs. Junior Kellyn Newman will round out the squad.
Traditionally, tournament officials increase the degree of difficulty in selecting courses for regional play. Booth said that, while she has not seen Firethorn yet, other coaches have told her it is a long, tough test.
"I'm excited that it's a tough mental course," she said. "We're a very smart team. I think par will be a really good score - regionals and nationals are a whole different standard."
Booth added that for the long-hitting Lobos, the longer the course, the better.
Temperatures are predicted to be in the low to mid-70s in Lincoln this weekend, but scattered thunderstorms may throw a wrench in the proceedings.
"Anything will be better than Sunriver," Booth said, referring to the snow, sleet and wind her team competed in at the conference tournament. "If it gets over 35 degrees, we'll be happy."
Weather aside, the Lobos feel like they have something to prove this time out.
"I think we've been underestimated all year and in these two weeks, we can really show everyone what kind of team we really are," Booth said.
