Bruins expecting top-3 finish in West Regionals
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 8, 2002 9:00 p.m.
By Michelle Coppolella
Daily Bruin Reporter
[email protected]
The last time the UCLA women’s golf team walked off the
Stanford Golf Course in mid-April, it finished the Peg Barnard
Invitational in eighth place.
But after capturing second place at the Pac-10 Championships
last week, the Bruins are confident that they will leave the
Stanford Golf Course with a top-three finish after the NCAA West
Regionals this Thursday to Sunday.
“Finishing second in the Pac-10 Championships was more
than a confidence boost,” head coach Carrie Leary said.
“It was a statement that we are here to compete hard and win.
Finishing in the top-three is definitely do-able, but we want to
come out of the tournament with a championship.”
With the knowledge of how crucial a role the NCAA West Regionals
play in the advancement of the team to the NCAA Finals, the Bruins
are confident that a young core of players can take the Bruins to
the next level. The team features freshmen Yvonne Choe and
Charlotte Mayorkas, sophomores Melissa Martin and Gina Umeck, and
senior captain Alicia Um.
“It just took a while to come together as a team and have
the lineup come along,” Leary said. “But these five
starters have been playing together for the past four events, so
they are really confident in themselves.”
Choe feels that the team has come far from the fall season where
10th and 15th place finishes in tournaments left the Bruins
dissatisfied and disappointed.
“At the beginning of the year we were slow to come
together and work well as a team,” Choe said. “But now
each of us has individually improved our level of play and as a
result the team has improved immensely. I think we’re more
ready to play this week than we ever have been.”
This confidence proved to be vital in the Pac-10 Championships
last week where Choe was awarded Newcomer of the Year and Umeck and
Um were named all-conference honorable mentions. Leary was also
voted Pac-10 Coach of the Year, but feels that she would be most
satisfied with a championship trophy ““ a trophy UCLA
hasn’t held since 1991, the last time the Bruins captured the
NCAA title.
“Stanford was our best tournament of the fall season, and
I think last month everyone was just tired,” Leary said.
“But we have had time to play for this event and we’re
looking to come out of it with a championship. We’re hungry
and I know that we’ll finish strong.”
