The academic year may have wrapped up in early May, but NCAA championships are in full swing through June. Here’s a look at how Arizona’s sports teams have fared since the end of the semester.
Men’s golf
After finishing eighth at the Pacific 10 Conference championships in Palo Alto, Calif., the Wildcats hosted an NCAA Regional at Omni Tucson National Golf Resort.
Needing to finish in the top five spots out of 14 teams, Arizona was two strokes behind fifth-place Washington through 14 holes.
But Wildcat senior Tarquin MacManus birdied holes 15, 16 and 17 and sophomore Juan Pablo Hernandez birdied 18, leading Arizona to a fourth-place finish.
Up next for Arizona was a trip to Stillwater, Okla., and the stroke-play portion of the NCAA Championships.
The top eight teams after three days of stroke-play advance to the match-play portion of the championship, which determines the national champion.
But Arizona struggled in stroke-play, shooting 69-over-par and finishing 29th out of 30 teams.
MacManus was Arizona’s highest individual finisher, shooting an 11-over-par 227 to land him in 74th place.
Women’s golf
Arizona women’s golf finished second in the Pac-10 Championships, held at ASU’s Karsten Golf Course — finishing five strokes behind conference champion Southern California.
The Wildcats then traveled to Seattle to take part in the NCAA West Regional Championships, where they finished fifth out of 24 teams. The top eight finishers advanced to the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas.
In College Station, the Wildcats placed 15th out of 24 teams after shooting a combined 53-over-par 1,205 – 32 strokes behind eventual national champion UCLA.
Senior Alejandra Llaneza was Arizona’s top finisher, finishing in a tie for 37th after shooting a 13-over-par 299.
Men’s tennis
At the Pac-10 Championships held in Ojai, Calif., each of Arizona’s four individual competitors failed to advance past the first round of play — each falling in straight sets.
In doubles competition, the Wildcats didn’t fare much better, losing both of their matches — one to Washington and the other to Stanford, the conference’s No. 1 ranked team. Arizona failed to advance to NCAA Championship play.
Women’s tennis
Arizona freshmen Susan McRann and Kim Stubbe squared off against one another in the Pac-10 Championship semifinals, with McRann advancing to the final against California’s Alice Duranteau, where she fell 2-0.
In NCAA Championship play, Arizona fell in the first round to South Carolina, 4-2.
The Wildcats were 1-4 in singles matches and took two of three doubles matches from the Gamecocks.
Men and women’s track & field
In the Pac-10 Conference meet, which was held in Tucson, both the men and women’s teams finished second behind only Oregon — the first time both squads have finished second in the same year, and matched all-time high finishes for both teams.
Senior runner Christina Rodgers was a part of two school record-setting events: the 4×400 relay — which UA finished in 3:31.67, almost two seconds behind Oregon — and the 800-meter run. Though Rodgers’ 2:03.52 finish in the 800-meter broke a 17-year-old school mark, she was runner-up to Washington State’s Anna Layman.
Arizona then advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships preliminary round, where 16 Wildcats qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which begin today in Des Moines, Iowa.
Softball
After finishing fourth in the Pac-10 during regular-season play, Arizona cruised through the Tucson NCAA Regional, outscoring its opponents 28-2 – setting up a Super Regional showdown with Oklahoma and standout pitcher Keilani Ricketts.
But the Wildcats weren’t able to mount an offensive threat against the Sooners, being swept in two games and being outscored 11-2 — both runs coming in the final inning of the series.
The Super Regional loss snapped a streak of 21-straight Mike Candrea-led teams that had advanced to the Women’s College World Series.
