CLE ELUM, Wash. – The Virginia women’s golf finished third at the NCAA Regional site in Cle Elum, Wash., to advance to the 2024 NCAA Championships. The 24th-ranked Cavaliers shot 3-over 295 during Wednesday’s final round of competition to finish the 54-hole event at 12-over 876 and earn one of the five berths from the site to the national championships.
Top-ranked Stanford won the regional at 17-under 847. No. 11 Duke was second at 865. No. 13 Arizona State was fourth at 885 and No. 25 San Jose State grabbed the final spot from the regional to the national championship with a score of 887.
UVA was paced by a third-place finish from All-American Amanda Sambach. After starting her round with bogeys on three of her first five holes, Sambach got hot. She made birdie on the ninth hole and then posted four more birdies on her back nine to finish the day at 1-under 71. She shot 72 in her opening round and 71 during the second round to finish at 2-under 214.
It was the seventh time in 10 tournaments this season Sambach posted a top-10 finish and marked the 17th time in her career she has achieved that accomplishment.
Jaclyn LaHa also finished strong on Wednesday for Virginia with four birdies over her final six holes to shoot even par 72 and move up to a 13th-place finish at 5-over 221. Celeste Valinho was the Cavaliers’ second-highest finisher, tying for ninth at 3-over 219. She shot 2-over 74 during the final round. It was the fifth top-10 finish during Valinho’s career.
Megan Propeck was 30th at 10-over 226 including a final round of 78. Rebecca Skoler was 50th at 233. She posted a score of 74 on Wednesday to be a counter for UVA’s team score.
“It was a great week in Washington,” Sambach said. “The conditions were really tough but we did a really great job of taking it one stroke at a time and played really steady. We are so pumped for California and we are ready to compete for a national championship.”
It marks the 14th time in the UVA program’s 21-year history to advance to the NCAA Championships. Last year the Cavaliers placed 24th but failed to advance to the final round after the third-round cut. Amanda Sambach was UVA’s top finisher in 54th place.
Other teams advancing to the NCAA Championships from regional sites include:
Auburn Regional – Auburn, Oregon, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tulsa
East Lansing Regional – USC, Oklahoma State, Michigan State, Northwestern, Pepperdine
Bryan Regional – LSU, SMU, Clemson,…
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