SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will compete in its second straight and fifth overall NCAA postseason on Monday-Wednesday, May 6-8, at the Norman Regional at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club (par 72/6,367 yards).
The Roadrunners will be the No. 15 seed in the 18-team field that includes (1) Texas, (2) Wake Forest, (3) Florida, (4) Arizona State, (5) Oklahoma, (6) TCU, (7) Pepperdine, (8) Purdue, (9) Mississippi, (10) Texas Tech, (11) Mississippi State, (12) Virginia Tech, (13) NC State, (14) Texas A&M, (15) UTSA, (16) UNC Wilmington, (17) Sam Houston State and (18) Fairleigh Dickinson. Six individuals also will participate in the three-day, 54-hole, stroke-play event.
UTSA will be paired with N.C. State and Texas A&M for the first round and those five groups will tee off of No. 1 beginning at 9:20 a.m. The second and third round tee times are scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.
UTSA Lineup
1. Ana Gonzalez (Sophomore • Monterrey, Mexico)
2. Julie Houston (Senior • Allen, Texas)
3. Hannah Holzmann (Freshman • San Antonio, Texas)
4. Brooke Nolte (Junior • Melissa, Texas)
5. Madison Kidd (Junior • Lake Jackson, Texas)
The low six teams and low three individuals not on those teams from each regional — a total of 24 teams and 12 individuals — will advance to the national championships to be played May 17-22 at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.
UTSA advanced to three straight NCAA Regionals in 2011-13, finishing 16th in the 2011 West Regional, 20th in the 2012 Central Regional, and 17th in the 2013 Central Regional. The Roadrunners turned in their best NCAA postseason finish and score by placing 12th with an 892 (298-295-299) at the Austin Regional last year.
Under the direction of two-time Conference USA Coach of the Year Summer Batiste, the Roadrunners earned an automatic bid to the NCAA postseason after capturing their second straight C-USA Championship on April 15-17 in Fort Myers, Fla. Ana Gonzalez captured individual medalist honors and Julie Houston tied for eighth place to lead UTSA to a 12-shot victory for its fourth all-time league title.
UTSA's NCAA postseason history
UTSA will be making its second straight and fifth overall NCAA postseason appearance in the 14-year history of the program when it competes in the Norman Regional on May 6-8 at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club.
The Roadrunners qualified for three straight NCAA Regionals in 2011-13, the first two coming after earning the Southland Conference's automatic bid for back-to-back league crowns and the last as the first-ever at-large NCAA berth by any sport at UTSA. The Roadrunners have advanced to an NCAA Regional the last two seasons after capturing back-to-back C-USA titles and earning the league's automatic bid.
The 2011 team was the first to move on to the NCAA postseason, finishing 16th at the West Regional in Auburn, Wash. The Roadrunners carded a 311-313-313—937 in the 24-team field.
Second-year head coach Summer Batiste was a player on UTSA's back-to-back NCAA Regional teams in 2011-12. She tied for 89th (77-85-77—239) in 2011 and was 104th (78-83-84—245) the following year.
The Roadrunners turned in their best NCAA postseason finish and score by placing 12th with an 892 (298-295-299) at the 2018 Austin Regional. Ana Gonzalez turned in the program's best NCAA individual finish and scorecard by tying for 29th with a 220 (75-70-75).
Additionally, Fabiola Arriaga qualified as an individual for the 2014 NCAA West Regional in Cle Elum, Wash., and tied for 49th with a 232 (77-78-77).
NCAA Regional History
Year | Regional (Location) | Finish (Score)
2011 | West (Auburn, Wash.) | 16th (311-313-313—937)
Top Individual — Paola Valerio T-63rd (78-78-78—234)
2012 | Central (Columbus, Ohio) | 20th (317-326-319—962)
Top Individual — Fabiola Arriaga T-84th (82-80-77—239)
2013 | Central (Norman, Okla.) | 17th (302-303-299—904)
Top Individual — Paola Valerio T-30th (76-72-73—221)
2014 | West (Cle Elum, Wash.) | n/a
Individual — Fabiola Arriaga T-49th (77-78-77—232)
2018 | Austin | 12th (298-295-299—892)
Top Individual — Ana Gonzalez T-29th (75-70-75—220)
UTSA captures Conference USA Championship
Behind individual medalist Ana Gonzalez, UTSA won its second straight Conference USA Championship on April 17 at the Verandah Club in Fort Myers, Fla.
Gonzalez ran away with the individual crown by five strokes to pace UTSA to a 12-shot victory. It marked the Roadrunners' second C-USA title and fourth overall league championship, as they also claimed back-to-back titles in 2011-12 as members of the Southland Conference.
UTSA entered the final round trailing Old Dominion by one shot in the team standings. The Roadrunners fired a 7-under-par 281 — tied for the best round in school history — to race past the Monarchs, who posted a 295 and fell to third place. UTSA finished atop the leaderboard with a 10-under 854 (282-291-281) to set a new program standard for low 54-hole total vs. par by five shots.
Gonzalez carded a 9-under 207 to cruise to her second collegiate win in less than a month and the sixth top-10 showing of her sophomore season. After opening the three-day event with a 69-67—136, the Monterrey, Mexico, native turned in a 71 on the 6,194-yard, par-72 Old Orange layout in the final round.
UTSA now can claim back-to-back C-USA medalists, as Gonzalez joins 2018 winner Julie Houston. The 2018 C-USA Freshman of the Year and last year's league runner-up is the fifth Roadrunner to capture a conference crown.
UTSA trio garners C-USA honors
UTSA head coach Summer Batiste, sophomore Ana Gonzalez and senior Julie Houston all collected Conference USA postseason honors. Batiste was voted C-USA Coach of the Year, while Gonzalez and Houston were named to the first and second teams, respectively.
Batiste was voted the league's coach of the year by her peers for the second straight season after guiding the Roadrunners to three tournament titles in 2018-19, including their second consecutive conference crown on April 17 in Fort Myers, Fla. A four-year letterwinner, two-time second-team all-conference performer and member of UTSA's back-to-back Southland Conference championship teams in 2011-12, Batiste now joins former head coach Carrie Parnaby (2011-12) as two-time conference coach of the year honorees.
Gonzalez was one of five players named to the first team, her second career all-conference award. The sophomore carded a 9-under 207 (69-67-71) to capture C-USA medalist honors by five shots and become the second straight and fifth overall conference champion in program annals. She leads UTSA with six top-10 finishes and a 73.13 stroke average this season. She currently owns UTSA's career scoring average record (73.52) and has matched the program's single-season standard of two wins held by Houston (2015-16) and Allie Jordan (2008-09).
With this year's second-team selection, Houston earned her fourth career all-conference certificate and joined Fabiola Arriaga, Taylor Newlin and Paola Valerio as the program's only four-time all-league performers. The senior from Allen, Texas, ranks second on the squad with a 73.84 stroke average and she has registered four top 10s this season, including a tie for eighth place with a 216 (76-69-71) to help lead UTSA to the C-USA crown.
UTSA now has garnered 32 all-conference certificates, including 11 first-team awards, in its 14-year history.
Houston earns second C-USA All-Academic Team nod
For the second straight season, Julie Houston was named to the InTouch Credit Union Conference USA All-Academic Team, which honors student-athletes who embody academic and athletic excellence from the sport of women's golf.
Houston boasts a 3.87 GPA as a marketing major and is on track to graduate this month. A C-USA All-Academic Team honoree a year ago, she is a three-time Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar and she has earned three C-USA Academic Medals for maintaining a 3.75-or-better GPA. A member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll each year, she was named UTSA's 2017-18 Hathaway Academic Female Athlete of the Year.
Batiste off to successful start
Summer Batiste is off to a successful start to her head coaching career. In her first two seasons at the helm, she has guided UTSA to back-to-back Conference USA titles and a pair of NCAA postseason appearances.
Recently tabbed C-USA Coach of the Year for the second time, Batiste has led the Roadrunners to three tournament titles and a pair of individual crowns in 2018-19. UTSA won the C-USA Championship behind medalist Ana Gonzalez, who also finished atop the leaderboard at the LSU Tiger Classic in March. The Roadrunners also claimed the Lady Maxwell Invitational and Texas State Invitational team titles during the season, and they now own 11 top-five team finishes —including four wins — during her tenure.
A native of Spring, Texas, Batiste spent three seasons as UTSA's assistant coach before being named the program's third head coach in July 2017.
A former standout player for the Roadrunners in 2007-12, Batiste served as team captain her final two seasons and earned second-team All-Southland Conference honors in both 2010 and 2011. She shared individual medalist honors with teammate Taylor Newlin at the 2012 Islander Classic after shooting a 75-74-71—220 and she posted four additional top-five finishes during her career. Batiste, the daughter of former Texas A&M and Miami Dolphins football player Dana Batiste, was a three-time winner of the UTSA Weight Room Warrior Award.
