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Saint Martin's earns spot in NCAA Super Regionals! April 23, 2004 The NCAA announced the field of 16 teams to participate in the NCAA Division II Super Regional Championships to be hosted by Western Washington University May 3-5 at the Bellingham Golf and Country Club. Saint Martin's earned the 8th seed in the very strong West Region that includes six nationally ranked teams. The Northwest Region will also compete in Bellingham in a simultaneous tournament. The Saints concluded their regular season last week at the Buzzini/Stanislaus Invitational hosted by Cal-State Stanislaus; finishing fifth in the 19-team field. That strong finish helped to insure Saint Martin's inclusion in today's announcement. Shane Prante shot a 73, then back-to-back 72's to finish 11th among 97 golfers. Kris Swanson totaled a two-over-par 218, one stroke behind Prante, to help lead the Saints in the three-round event. Also figuring in the scoring for Saint Martin's were Jared Bouchey (223, +7), Tom Hinton (226, +10), and Chris Westrum (239, +23). Although the Saints are seeded eighth out of eight in the West Regionals, they have defeated all seven teams seeded ahead of them at one time this year, including three (#1 Cal-State Chico, #4 UC-San Diego, and #6 Hawaii-Hilo) last week in Stanislaus. All eight teams competed on the same course in September in which UC-San Diego finished second behind NAIA member Victoria. Prante took medalist honors in that event, shooting a remarkable 14-under 202, as the Saints took fifth. The top team this time will qualify for an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament at Orlando, Fla., on May 12-15. The next four teams in each region qualify for consideration for a total of eight at-large berths. Last year, the West sent the maximum five teams to nationals, earning four at-large spots. Mark McGreevy, Sports Information Director
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