SAN ANTONIO — UTSA senior Camryn Carreon will make her second straight appearance as an individual in the NCAA Championships on Friday-Wednesday, May 19-24, at Grayhawk Golf Club (par 72/6,384 yards) in Scottsdale, Arizona. Championship play will be hosted by Arizona State and The Thunderbirds, with the final three days of the championships televised live by the GOLF Channel.
One of six individuals to advance to the national championships, Carreon earned her spot in Scottsdale after running away with the individual title at the San Antonio Regional on May 8-10. She fired a 10-under-par 206 (71-67-68) to claim the crown by six shots, and she joins Dorota Zalewska of Chattanooga as the only two individual qualifiers in the field who are regional medalists.
The championship format in Scottsdale also will include 30 teams with the field set to play 54 holes of stroke play on Friday-Sunday. The top 15 teams along with the top nine individuals not on an advancing team will play one additional round of stroke play on Monday to determine the top eight teams for match play competition and the 72-hole stroke play individual champion.
Carreon's NCAA postseason selection this year marks the second time a member of the UTSA women's golf program has received such an invitation. Former standout Fabiola Arriaga qualified for the 2014 NCAA West Regional in Cle Elum, Washington, and finished in a tie for 49th.
Last year, Carreon became the first UTSA golfer to advance past an NCAA Regional when she tied for fourth place in Franklin, Tennessee, to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships. The all-conference performer fired a 5-under-par 211 (74-70-67), helping lead the Roadrunners to sixth place for their best NCAA Regional finish. She then capped her junior campaign by posting a 9-over 225 (73-78-74) at Grayhawk, missing the cut by only two strokes.
Senior standout
Ready for her second straight NCAA Championships appearance, Camryn Carreon owns a 72.46 stroke average this season, including a 71.22 mark in the spring. She has a pair of victories to her name and has finished in the top 10 in four straight and seven overall tournaments. She has turned in 18 par-or-better scorecards, including eight sub-70 rounds, in 32 total rounds in 2022-23.
Carreon became the first Roadrunner to win an NCAA Regional when she fired a 10-under-par 206 (71-67-68) to run away with the San Antonio Regional title by six shots on May 8-10 at TPC San Antonio. In fact, she joins Chattanooga's Dorota Zalewska as the only two individual qualifiers in this field who won their regional.
Earlier this spring, Carreon smashed school records for low 18- and 54-hole scores en route to claiming her first collegiate win and the 18th in the 18-year history of the program at the Trinity Forest Invitational on March 6-7 in Dallas. After opening with a 7-under 137 (68-69), which matched the second-best 36-hole tally in program annals, she fired a 7-under 65 on the final day to eclipse the previous UTSA low-score standard of 66 held by Paola Valerio and Hunter Nugent. A two-time all-conference selection, her 14-under total beat the previous 54-hole mark of 9-under established by Arriaga at the 2014 C-USA Championship and matched by Ana Gonzalez at the 2019 league event, and her 202 was a three-shot improvement from Gonzalez's 8-under 205 posted at the 2017 Mercedes Benz-Collegiate Championship. She was named Conference USA Women's Golfer of the Week for her performance.
An Incarnate Word High School graduate, Carreon earned all-tournament team honors after carding a 2-over 218 (77-69-72) to finish fourth at the C-USA Championship on April 13-15 at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Carreon tied for 10th place at the Chattanooga Classic after posting an even-par 216 (73-73-70) and also grabbed a share of 10th at the Paradise Invitational with a 2-under 214 (71-72-71) earlier this spring. She recorded a 217 (75-71-71) for sixth at the Dale McNamara Invitational and then earned the league's weekly award after firing a 3-under 213 (74-72-67) to tie for eighth at the Jim West Challenge last October.
Cap and Gown
Camryn Carreon is set to earn her undergraduate degree in public health this summer and was set to walk during UTSA's Commencement this Saturday, May 20. However, that date conflicts with the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, so Carreon was honored in a special ceremony, along with the UTSA baseball student-athlete graduates, last Saturday on campus. UTSA President Taylor Eighmy and UTSA Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos were on hand to present student-athlete stoles to the graduates and celebrate them for earning their degrees.
Pair of Roadrunners earns All-Conference honors
UTSA senior Camryn Carreon was named first-team All-Conference USA and freshman Daniela Abonce landed on the third team, as the league office unveiled its postseason honors on May 3.
Carreon was named to the first team for the second straight season after landing on the second team in 2021, while Abonce collected third-team accolades in her debut campaign with the Roadrunners.
With these two all-conference selections, UTSA now has garnered 42 all-conference certificates in its 18-year history, including 14 in six seasons under head coach Summer Batiste, a two-time C-USA Coach of the Year honoree.
Batiste off to successful start
Summer Batiste is off to a successful start to her head coaching career. In her first six seasons at the helm, she has guided UTSA to four NCAA team and one individual postseason appearances to go with a pair of Conference USA titles. She also guided Camryn Carreon to the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Arizona, last year, the first Roadrunner to advance past an NCAA Regional after she finished fourth. The 2020 season was canceled in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two-time C-USA Coach of the Year has led the Roadrunners to seven total tournament titles, three individual conference crowns and 14 all-conference certificates.
UTSA also has taken care of business in the classroom under Batiste, as the program has placed 28 student-athletes on the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll over the last five years while collecting a total of nine C-USA Academic Medals for a 3.75-or-better cumulative GPA. The Roadrunners have earned three spots on C-USA All-Academic Teams and seven Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar awards during her tenure. They also have received three NCAA Public Recognition Awards for posting an Academic Progress Rate among the top 10 percent nationally within the sport.
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. She was a member of back-to-back NCAA Regional teams, tying for 89th (77-85-77—239) in 2011 and 104th (78-83-84—245) in 2012.
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.
UTSA's NCAA Postseason History
UTSA has made seven team and two individual NCAA postseason appearances in the history of the program, which started play in 2005-06.
UTSA's NCAA Regional Finishes
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.) individual only
Individual — Fabiola Arriaga, T-49th (77-78-77—232)
2018 Austin (Texas) 12th (298-295-299—892)
Top Individual — Ana Gonzalez, T-29th (75-70-75—220)
2019 Norman (Okla.) 14th (303-301-299—903)
Top Individual — Hannah Holzmann, T-51st (73-74-78—225)
2021 Louisville (Ky.) 13th (303-298-295—896)
Top Individual — Ana Gonzalez, T-34th (74-75-74—223)
2022 Franklin (Tenn.) 6th (293-294-288—875)
Top Individual —Camryn Carreon, T-4th (74-70-67—211)
2022 NCAA Championships (Scottsdale, Ariz.) individual only
Individual — Camryn Carreon, MC (73-78-74—225)
2023 San Antonio (Texas) individual only
Individual — Camryn Carreon, 1st (71-67-68—206)
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