STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - April 29, 2003 - The Penn State women's golf team has earned an invitation to compete in the NCAA East Regional Championships at the Salem Glen Country club in Clemmons, N.C. Wake Forest University is the host for the May 8-10 event.

The Nittany Lions will be participating in the NCAA East Regional for the first time since 1999 and just the second time in program history. Penn State competed in the 1985 NCAA Championships prior to the current regional format. Twenty-one teams will compete in the regional, with the top eight teams and top two individuals advancing to the NCAA Championships, May 21-24 at Purdue. Duke, Arizona and Auburn are the top three seeds in the East Regional.

Coach Denise St. Pierre's team is ranked No. 44 by the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. The Lions have won three tournaments this year, the Yale Invitational, the Nittany Lion Invitational and the Peggy Kirk Bell Invitational.

Last year, Katie Futcher (The Woodlands, Texas) competed as an individual at the NCAA East Regional and placed seventh with a score of 217. Futcher, a senior, has earned All-Big Ten honors the past two seasons.

Results from the NCAA East Regional will be available on www.GoPSUsports.com and www.golfstat.com throughout the competition.