Schmucker Earns Invitation to NCAA Central Regional
5/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Amy Schmucker (Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori HS) of the University of Michigan women's golf team was selected Monday (May 1) as an invited individual participant for the 2006 NCAA Central Regional after the Wolverines were not selected as a team. Schmucker was one of just three individuals invited to play in the Central Regional, joining Illinois State's Samantha Richdale and Kansas' Amanda Costner.
Schmucker
"I am definitely happy that I received the invitation," said Schmucker. "However, it is a really bittersweet feeling. I am just shocked that we didn't make it as a team. The girls worked so hard this season and I am really sad for them. This is just going to be a different tournament for me not having my teammates with me. Now, my ultimate goal is play well and to move onto nationals and finish the highest I can."
The NCAA Central Regional will feature 21 teams as well as the three individuals. Selected teams for the 2006 Central Regional include: Duke, Southern California, Pepperdine, Texas A&M, Florida, Oklahoma State, Kent State, Ohio State, Michigan State, SMU, TCU, Missouri, Baylor, Tulsa, Nebraska, Northwestern, Texas, Birmingham-Southern, Jacksonville State, Jackson State and St. Francis (Pa.).
The Central Regional will be Thursday through Saturday, May 11-13, at the Traditions at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. The top eight teams and the top two individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the NCAA Championship Tuesday through Friday, May 23-26, at Ohio State's Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio.
Schmucker led the Maize and Blue all season long and was honored with an All-Big Ten Conference second team selection. She led the Wolverines in nine of 11 events, including winning her second collegiate medalist honor at the Rio Verde Collegiate.
During her final season, she tied the U-M single-round record with a four-under 68 in the first round of the Wolverine Invitational, and she has carried a U-M record pace 74.58 scoring average, which is nearly a full stroke better than the previous record. Schmucker has not missed a tournament in her Michigan career, playing in 47 straight events, and she carries a 77.45 career scoring average, which ranks third in school history.
During the 2005-06 regular season the Wolverines added their 27th team tournament trophy by winning the Wolverine Invitational (Oct. 1-2) and added two runner-up finishes at the Rio Verde Collegiate (March 2-4) and the Illini Spring Classic (April 14-15). The Wolverines closed the 2006 Big Ten Championships with their third straight top-five conference finish as they finished fourth overall, placing two individuals among the top 12 and recording the second best 72-hole championship total (1202) in the history of the program.
Michigan has been represented in regional competition by the team or an individual in five of the last six seasons, making team appearances in 2001, 2002 and 2005. Former All-Big Ten golfer Laura Olin played as an invited individual at the 2004 Central Regional. In 2002, the Wolverines finished sixth at the Central Regional in East Lansing, Mich., to advance to their first appearance at the NCAA Championships, where the Maize and Blue finished 17th.
NCAA Release
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
