SAN BRUNO, Calif. - The West
Coast Conference announced on Thursday the addition of California State University
Bakersfield as an affiliate member in the sport of women's golf, beginning with
the 2012-13 season. The addition gives the WCC the minimum six teams required
to receive an automatic qualification to the NCAA Women's Golf Championships.
"We are pleased to have CSU
Bakersfield become a West Coast Conference affiliate member in women's
golf," WCC Commissioner Jamie Zaninovich said. "We're excited to add an
affiliate member in a sport that continues to expand its profile nationally and
look forward to the Roadrunners' arrival for the 2012-13 season."
CSU Bakersfield will make its debut
as an affiliate member at the 2013 WCC Golf Championships on April 15-17 at
Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash. The membership increases the number
of conference-affiliated teams at CSUB to 12.
"This is a great opportunity
for our women's golf program to join a conference of such high caliber like the
West Coast Conference," said CSU Bakersfield Director of Athletics Jeff
Konya. "This is another example of putting our student-athletes in the
best position to compete for championships and we are optimistic about the
direction of our women's golf program with a new coach on board and now a new
conference to call home next season."
The West Coast Conference began
sponsoring women's golf during the 1996-97 school year with four charter
members: Gonzaga, Pepperdine, the University of San Francisco and Santa Clara.
The Conference has since brought Brigham Young University into the fold in
2011-12 and CSU Bakersfield will replace Seattle University as the sixth member
after SU moves to the Western Athletic Conference following the 2011-12 season.
"That is
great news for us. That gives us a reason to participate and a goal to look
forward to," said CSUB head golf coach Dave Barber. "We can go into next fall
with the idea of a championship to aim for in the spring and have the ultimate
goal of going to the postseason. The only way to do that is through a
conference because it is practically impossible otherwise."
The move is
the second change for the Roadrunner program this month as Barber recently
hired Tony Bernardin to oversee the women's squad. Bernardin is a CSUB alumnus
and will be looking to help grow the program for the 'Runners, who took the
2011 fall season off, but will resume play with four tournaments in the spring
of 2012.
Barber said
he is currently working on filling out the women's roster and expects the
conference membership to help with recruiting in the future.
~www.GoRunners.com~
