Ianello Selected to WGCA National Coach of the Year Watch List

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Arizona Women’s Golf head coach Laura Ianello was selected to the WGCA’s Watch List for National Coach of the Year. Ianello, who has won national titles at Arizona as a student-athlete and coach, has guided the Wildcats to the NCAA Championships for a ninth time in 12 years as head coach.

Arizona won the NCAA Raleigh Regional after a historic performance by freshman Julia Misemer who finished tied for second at 8-under. She posted the best finish by a Wildcat at NCAA Regionals since Alison Walshe won the UC Davis Regional in 2008. Misemer also carded back-to-back rounds of 68, which were the lowest rounds by an Arizona freshman at NCAA Regionals since 2003. The NCAA Regional Championship was Arizona’s sixth in program history and first since 2010.

The Wildcats’ participation in the NCAA Raleigh Regional this season marked the 30^th consecutive season that the team has qualified for NCAA postseason play. The program also continued another impressive streak at the Pac-12 Championships two week prior by finishing in the top five for an 18^th straight year.

The Wildcat duo of Carolina Melgrati and Gile Bite Starkute earned All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention this season. Starkute, a senior from Lithuania, is on pace to crack the top 20 in program history in career scoring average and competitive rounds played. She elevated her game this season by shaving a half of a stroke off her scoring average from a year ago while amassing five top-10 finishes in 11 events this season. The all-conference nod is the second of Melgrati’s Arizona career following her WGCA Honorable Mention All-American campaign as a freshman a year ago. Melgrati is second on the team in scoring average behind Starkute as a sophomore.

Arizona will tee off on Friday morning at the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Arizona in pursuit of its fourth national championship in program history.