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April 24, 2009

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Continuing a string of making an appearance in the West Regional since becoming a full member of NCAA Division II, the Western Washington University men's golf team earned a berth for the 11th consecutive year.

The Vikings were selected as the No.3 seed in the 54-hole event, which takes place May 4-6 at the Wilderness Ridge Golf Club in Lincoln, Neb.

The tournament is being held in conjunction with the Central Regional as one of four super regionals taking place across the country. The host is University of Nebraska-Kearney.

Each super regional is composed of 20 schools and eight additional individuals from non-qualifying schools. The top five schools and top two individuals from non-qualifying schools advance to the NCAA II National Championships, which WWU will host at the Loomis Trail Golf Club on May 19-22.

Defending champion Sonoma State is the No.1 seed in the West Regional, followed by No.2 Cal State San Bernardino, No.3 WWU, No.4 Chico State, No.5 Cal State Monterey Bay, No.6 Cal State Stanislaus, No.7 Grand Canyon, No.8 Hawaii Hilo, No.9 Dixie State and No.10 Saint Martin's.

Western placed second last year and went on to tie for eighth at nationals. The Vikings won the regional title in 2005 and finished second in 1999.

Colorado-Colorado Springs, the defending champion, is the No.1 seed in the Central Regional. They are joined by No.2 Western New Mexico, No.3 Fort Lewis, No.4 Minnesota State Mankato, No.5 St. Cloud State, No.6 Colorado Christian, No.7 Bemidji State, No.8 Upper Iowa, No.9 Regis and No.10 Colorado State-Pueblo.

In the latest Golf World/Nike Golf/Golf Coaches Association of America Division II Poll, Sonoma State is No.7, Cal State Stanislaus No.8, Chico State No.17, Hawaii Hilo No.21, Western No.22 and Cal State Monterey Bay No.23.

"It's going to be a knockdown drag out battle," said Western's Steve Card (16th year), the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. "There are 10 to 12 teams that realistically could make it into the top five."

The Vikings are coming off a victory at the GNAC Championship earlier this week. In eight regular-season tournaments, they were second once, third once and fourth twice.

Western is led by Jake Koppenberg (Sr., Everett), who has a school-record pace 71.1 scoring average and was named GNAC Player of the Year for the second straight season.

Koppenberg ranks eighth nationally in the Golfstat ratings, placing among the top 10 in medalist play in six tournaments this season, including three first-place finishes.

Making his third straight trip to regionals for Western is Julian Peters (Jr., Mukilteo/Kamiak) (75.7).

Two Vikings are going to regionals for the second time, Thomas Jun (So., Federal Way/Beamer) (74.2) and Brandon Brown (Sr., Kent/Jefferson) (74.7).

Completing Western's five-man squad is Jake Webb (Fr., Issaquah/Skyline) (74.4).

2009 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS REGIONALS ANNOUNCED

INDIANAPOLIS---Eighty teams and 32 individuals have been selected to participate in the regional competition of the 2009 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships. Regional competitions will be conducted May 4-6. The sites and teams selected to participate are listed below. Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in brackets next to the institution's name. The four regional tournaments encompass the current eight regions.

The top five teams and the top two individuals not with a team from each regional (regardless of region) will advance to the finals May 19-22 at Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine, Washington. The finals will be hosted by Western Washington University.

There will be four regional sites in which two regions will meet and conduct regional tournaments. The regional tournaments will be paired as follows:

Atlantic and East

South and Southeast

Midwest and South Central

Central and West

ATLANTIC/EAST REGIONAL
The Glade Springs Resort Golf Club; Beckley, West Virginia; host Concord University and West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Atlantic Region:
1.	Fayetteville State [Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association]
2.	Ohio Valley
3.	Concord
4.	Indiana (Pennsylvania)
5.	Charleston (West Virginia)
6.	Clarion
7.	California (Pennsylvania)
8.	Virginia State
9.	Fairmont State [West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]
10.	West Liberty State

Individuals:
1.	Darryn Deshong, Millersville
2.	Tyler Bidwell, Mercyhurst
3.	Josh Arbaugh, West Virginia Wesleyan
4.	Mark Johnson, West Virginia Wesleyan

East Region:
1.	Adelphi
2.	Post [Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference]
3.	St. Thomas Aquinas
4.	Goldey-Beacom
5.	American International
6.	Southern New Hampshire
7.	Le Moyne [Northeast-10 Conference]
8.	Massachusetts-Lowell
9.	Wilmington (Delaware)
10.	Dowling

Individuals:
1.	Andrew Lee, Dominican (New York)
2.	Kent St. Charles, Pace
3.	Dan Garcia, Caldwell
4.	Matt Horton, Saint Rose

SOUTH/SOUTHEAST REGIONAL
Robert Trent Jones of the Shoals; Florence Alabama; host University of North Alabama.

South Region:
1.	Nova Southeastern [Sunshine State Conference]
2.	Florida Southern
3.	Lynn
4.	Barry
5.	North Alabama [Gulf South Conference]
6.	West Florida
7.	Valdosta State
8.	Arkansas Tech
9.	Rollins
10.	Florida Tech

Individuals:
1.	Cole Cisbani, St. Leo
2.	Brandon Hartzell, Delta State
3.	Ryan Chitwood, West Georgia
4.	Mark McGuire, St. Leo

Southeast Region:
1.	Columbus State
2.	GC&SU
3.	Clayton State [Peach Belt Conference]
4.	South Carolina-Aiken
5.	Lander
6.	Coker
7.	Barton [Conference Carolinas]
8.	Newberry [South Atlantic Conference]
9.	Belmont Abbey
10.	Armstrong Atlantic

Individuals:
1.	Jordan Walor, North Carolina-Pembroke
2.	Chase Carroll, Tusculum
3.	Scott Woodard, Mount Olive
4.	Adam Sheriff, Anderson (South Carolina)

MIDWEST/SOUTH CENTRAL REGIONAL
The Meadows Golf Club; Allendale, Michigan; host Grand Valley State University.

Midwest Region:
1.	Indianapolis [Great Lakes Valley Conference]
2.	Ferris State
3.	Grand Valley State [Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]
4.	Bellarmine
5.	Wayne State
6.	Findlay
7.	Drury
8.	Wisconsin-Parkside
9.	Northern Kentucky
10.	Ashland

Individuals:
1.	Kasey Hocquard, Saginaw Valley State
2.	Clarke Fry, Rockhurst
3.	Mike Hrunek, St. Joseph's (Indiana)
4.	Logan Watts, Lewis

South Central Region:
1.	Central Oklahoma
2.	Washburn
3.	St. Edward's
4.	Northeastern State [Lone Star Conference]
5.	Central Missouri [Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association]
6.	Abilene Christian
7.	St. Mary's (Texas) [Heartland Conference]
8.	Texas A&M-Commerce
9.	Missouri Southern State
10.	Dallas Baptist

Individuals:
1.	Aaron Murphy, Lincoln
2.	Travis Klutts, Midwestern State
3.	Zac Pool, East Central
4.	Geoff Phemister, West Texas A&M

CENTRAL/WEST REGIONAL
Wilderness Ridge Golf Club; Lincoln, Nebraska; host University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Central Region:
1.	Colorado-Colorado Springs
2.	Western New Mexico
3.	Fort Lewis
4.	Minnesota State Mankato
5.	St. Cloud State
6.	Colorado Christian
7.	Bemidji State
8.	Upper Iowa
9.	Regis
10.	Colorado State-Pueblo

Individuals:
1.	Jim Knous, Colorado School of Mines
2.	Brady Strangstalien, Winona State
3.	Adam Fields, Wayne State (Nebraska)
4.	Justin Onken, Nebraska-Kearney

West Region:
1.	Sonoma State [California Collegiate Athletic Association]
2.	Cal State San Bernardino
3.	Western Washington
4.	Chico State
5.	Cal State Monterey Bay
6.	Cal State Stanislaus
7.	Grand Canyon [Pacific West Conference]
8.	Hawaii-Hilo
9.	Dixie State
10.	St. Martin's

Individuals:
1.	Keith Okasaki, UC San Diego
2.	Raj Samra, UC San Diego
3.	Ryan Sheffer, Notre Dame de Namur
4.	Billy Olsen, UC San Diego

The University of West Florida won its second men's golf title in school history at the 2008 championships at the Division II Spring National Championships Festival in Houston, Texas, hosted by Rice University and the Harris Country-Houston Sports Authority. The Argos won in an exciting three-way playoff against the University of North Alabama and St. Edward's University.

For more information about the championships, log on to NCAA.com. Highlights of the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships will be shown on CBS at 2 p.m. Eastern time, Sunday, July 4. The CBS seasonal show will feature highlights of 17 different NCAA championships that took place during the spring.