Wildcat Wrap: Arizona women’s golf in hunt for NCAA Championships

Editor’s note: With several sports going on, Wildcat Wrap serves as a recap that focuses on the Arizona programs that we do not have the time to cover on a regular basis but are certainly worthy of recognition.

Arizona women’s golf entered the final round of the NCAA Raleigh Regional in fourth place, in position to advance to the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale later this month.

The third and final round teed off at 5 a.m. MST Wednesday. The top five teams from each regional advance.

Through two rounds, the Wildcats sat at 2-over par, tied with Purdue and eight strokes behind leader North Carolina State. Five teams entered the final round separated by five strokes, with Arizona one stroke ahead of sixth place Florida State.

Julia Misemer shot a 68 (4-under) Tuesday, the lowest round by an Arizona freshman at NCAA Regionals since Cassandra Kirkland and Erica Blasberg shot 4-under at the 2003 Wake Forest Regional.

Misemer is tied for fourth among individual golfers at 4-under for the tournament.

“Our team opened the day by playing some great golf that really built some momentum for us,” said head coach Laura Ianello. “We hit a tough stretch of holes after the turn, but I was proud of how our team recovered to end the day with birdies. Julia had an unbelievable round that puts her in elite company in our program’s history, which made this day even more special. We are right in the thick of things going into the final round, and I look forward to seeing this team battle again tomorrow.”

Arizona is looking to return to NCAA Championships after failing to advance out of regionals a year ago.

Men’s tennis

Arizona will face No. 3 seed Ohio State in the NCAA Super Regional (Round of 16) Saturday at 9 a.m. MST in Orlando. The Wildcats, the No. 14 seed, advancing to the Super Regional after beating Boise State and Oklahoma State in Tucson this past weekend.

This is the second time in three years Arizona will face the No. 3 seed in the Super Regional. In 2021, the Wildcats fell to Tennessee 4-3.

Arizona will have its hands full against the Buckeyes, who feature three of the top 25 ranked individual players in the country. Ohio State is led by No. 11 Cannon Kingsley, a two-time ITA Singles All-American.

The Wildcats’ highest ranked player is No. 40 Jonas Ziverts. Gustaf Strom and Colton Smith are also nationally ranked in singles.

Off the court Tuesday, Arizona picked up a major win, receiving a commitment from Santiago Padilla Cote, the No. 19 ranked player in his class.

Track and field

Arizona will compete in the Pac-12 Championships May 12-14 in Walnut, Calif.

Jordan Geist should be in the running for the shot put. Geist recently broke the men’s shot put meet record at the Penn Relays.

On the women’s side, Talie Bonds is the reigning Pac-12 high jump champion. Bonds will also be considered the favorite in the 100m hurdles. Last month she broke her own school record in the event, running a time of 12.65 seconds.