Big West champion UC Irvine and UC Davis today were selected to participate in the 2008 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship West Regional from May 8-10 at Lincoln Hills Golf Club in Lincoln, Calif.  The Anteaters reached regionals for the fourth straight year while the Aggies qualified for postseason in their first season as a Big West member.

UC Irvine earned the Big West automatic bid to NCAA Regionals by virtue of taking a 7-shot victory against UC Davis at the conference championships on April 21-22.  Three golfers finished in the top five, led by senior Kim Lorenzana, who earned individual medalist honors by winning a three-hole playoff against Chelsea Stelzmiller of UC Davis.  Selanee Henderson and Patty Chawalitmetha placed third and fourth, respectively.

It is the fifth overall regional selection for UCI, which made previous appearances in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The Anteaters were seeded No. 18 among the 21 competing teams.

UC Davis, in just its third year of varsity competition, garnered an at-large selection to regionals after finishing second at the Big West Championships and placing in the top five in seven out of nine regular season tournaments.  The Aggies are led by Stelzmiller, the 2008 Big West Player and Freshman of the Year.  The Aggies are seeded No. 17 in the West Regional, which will be played on the par-72 Orchard Course at Lincoln Hill Golf Club.

A total of 54 holes will be played with 18 holes being completed on each of the three days.

Both UCI and UCD are familiar with the course layout, having competed in the NCAA Western Regional Preview in March.  The Aggies tied for fourth and the Anteaters finished sixth among 19 teams, and were separated by just one stroke.

USC is the top seed in the West Regionals, followed by Arizona State and Arkansas.  The East Regional in Athens, Georgia and Central Regional in Austin, Texas will also feature 21 teams.

The top eight teams from each regional will advance to the championships finals in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 20-23 at the University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course.

NCAA WEST REGIONAL TEAMS
LINCOLN HILLS GOLF CLUB • LINCOLN, CALIF.

1. USC
2. Arizona State
3. Arkansas
4. Arizona
5. Oklahoma State
6. California
7. Michigan State
8. Stanford
9. BYU                
10. Tulsa
11. North Carolina
12. Ohio State
13. San Jose State
14. Oklahoma
15. Oregon
16. UNLV
17. UC Davis
18. UC Irvine
19. Fresno State
20. Oral Roberts
21. Portland State