by Riley Bauling
Daily Lobo
The top player and the head coach of the UNM women's golf team have two different expectations for the NCAA Central Regional Championships.
Head coach Jackie Booth said she would be happy with a top-eight finish in the tournament, which runs Thursday through Sunday. That would secure the Lobos a berth in the NCAA tournament, which is all that matters right now, she said.
Kailin Downs said the team isn't looking to just place in the top eight. It's planning on winning.
"We're looking at going to win, not just finishing in the top eight," she said. "Given the field, we have the ability to win this."
The Lobos snagged the No. 3 seed in the Central Regional behind No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Arizona State. UNM is also carrying a lofty national ranking of No. 14 with it into the tournament. Auburn and ASU are ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.
Booth said the possibility of the team faltering and coming up short of a top-eight finish is something that hasn't crossed her mind.
"I think it would be a heartbreaker for all of us," she said. "But that's not the way we are thinking right now."
UNM is a year removed from a seventh-place finish in last year's Central Regional. The Lobos went on to place ninth in the NCAA tournament.
As one of two seniors - Christina Spence is the other one - Downs said she's not sweating the fact that the Central Regional could be her last tournament as a Lobo.
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"I'm not really looking at it that way," she said. "I don't think it's a question of whether we are going to nationals or not. I've got two (tournaments) left."
Booth said that seeing this tournament as the last one of the seniors' careers is just an added pressure neither of them need. She said she expects her seniors and all the other players as well to go out and play the tournament like they would any other one.
Heading into the Central Regional, Downs leads the Lobos as the highest-ranked individual on the team at No. 34. Downs said she's got her eyes on the individual trophy as well.
"Ultimately, the big thing is we can win this as a team, and as an individual, I'm looking for my next win," she said.
Downs is followed in the individual national rankings by junior Christine Fernandez at No. 72, Spence at No. 129 and freshman Ashley Rollins at No. 136. The fifth player on the Lobos' squad, redshirt freshman Giselle Claux, is unranked as an individual.
The rest of the competition might be a little wary of the Lobos, who placed second in the Mountain West Conference tournament last weekend to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, if Downs' prediction holds true.
She said as a team, UNM has underachieved all season, but that shouldn't last much longer.
"I don't think we have reached our potential yet this spring," she said. "This is the time we can do it."
