New Mexico, Notre Dame & Kansas Heading for NCAA Regionals; VanArragon & Warian to Go as Individuals

On Sunday, New Mexico tied San Diego State for first place in the team competition at the Mountain West Conference Championships. But the Lobos lost the conference title to the Aztecs in a one-hole playoff. All the  players from each team participated, and San Diego State got birdies from two of its players, to one for New Mexico. It was the third consecutive conference championship for the Aztecs. 

But that didn't prevent New Mexico, which is No. 23 in the current NCAA Division I Rankings, from being selected to play in the 2024 NCAA regionals. The teams and individuals in this year's six regional tounaments   were announced Wednesday.

New Mexico is seeded No. 4 in the West Lafayette Regional, which will be played at Purdue's Birck Boilermake Complex, May 13-15, in West Lafayette, Ind. 

The Lobos' lineup includes Carson Herron, a sophomore from Wayzata whose father, Tim Herron, went to New Mexico and played in the NCAA tournament in the early 1990s. He was a first-team All-American in 1992 and '93 and finished seventh in the '93 NCAA tournament -- and went on to win four times on the PGA Tour. Carson's grandfather, also named Carson, played for Minnesota and made it to the NCAA tournament twice, finishing 26th in 1961.

There will be several other Minnesotans or players with Minnesota connections competing in the regionals. The No. 13 seed in West Lafayette will be Tennessee Tech, whose lineup includes former Pine Island star Anders Larson. The Golden Eagles earned their spot by winning the Ohio Valley Conference championship. 

West Lafayette is one of three regionals that have 13 teams and 10 individuals. The top-seeded individual there is Caleb VanArragon, a graduate student at Valparaiso who is No. 66 in the NCAA DI individual rankings. He finished second in the Missouri Valley Championships over the weekend in Sunrise Beach, Mo. Valparaiso finished third as a team. VanArragon set scoring records and lapped the fields while winning both the Minnesota State Open and State Amateur last summer.  

Another Minnesota state champion, Nate Stevens, who won the Class AAA high school crown twice (2021, '22), is now a sophomore at Notre Dame, the No. 32 team in the DI Rankings. He and the Irish will be playing the University of Texas Golf Course in the Austin Regional. 

No. 67 Kansas and Jayhawks senior Cecil Belisle, a two-time state Class AA high school champ from Red Wing, will be in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., where the Jayhawks will be seeded 11th.

Minnesota (No. 102) did not get an invitation, but the Gophers' Ben Warian, a senior from Stillwater, is one of the five individuals who will be competing in the Stanford Regional. His individual NCAA ranking is 140, and he's seeded No. 2 in the regional. Over the weekend, he tied for 16th in the Big Ten conference tournament.

The top five teams will advance from each regional to the NCAA Championships, which will be played May 24-29 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.  For an individual to advance, he will have to finish first among the individuals (five in some regionals, 10 in others) -- and all of the players from teams that don't advance. At Stanford, that means Warian would have to finish first among 49 players -- 45 from teams not advancing, plus the other four players entered as individuals only.  



2024 Men's NCAA Regionals 

All regionals will be played May 13-15

Three regionals have 13 teams and 10 individuals; three regionals have 14 teams and five individuals

The top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team will qualify for the NCAA Championships, May 24-29 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. 


West Lafayette Regional

At Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex

Teams by seeding

1. Vanderbilt 
2. Arizona
3. Florida
4. New Mexico
5. Purdue
6. San Diego State (Mountain West Conference champion)
7. Mississippi State
8. Indiana (Big Ten champion)
9. College of Charleston (Coastal Athletic Assn. champion)
10. Stetson
11. Colorado State
12. Southern Illinois (Missouri Valley champion)
13. Tennessee Tech (Ohio Valley champion)

Indiividuals by seeding

1. Caleb VanArragon, Valparaiso
2. Hunter Thomson, Michigan
3. Cameron Huss, Wisconsin
4. Barend Botha, Toledo
5. Valentin Peugnet, Illinois State
6. Owen Stamper, Middle Tennessee
7. Alex McCulla, Illinois State
8. Ty Gingerich, Cincinnati
9 Luke Fuller, Western Kentucky
10. Ben Ortwein, Rider


Rancho Santa Fe Regional

At The Farms Golf Club

Teams

1. Arizona State (Pac 12 champion)
2. Washington
3. Oklahoma
4. Cal
5. Oklahoma State
6. North Florida
7. Chattanooga
8. South Florida (American Athletic champion)
9. San Diego State (West Coast champion)
10. West Virginia
11. Kansas
12. Wright State (Horizon League champion)
13. Seton Hall (Big East champion)
14. Winthrop (Big South champion)

Individuals 

1. Mahanth Chirravuri, Pepperdine
2. Tegan Andrews, Cal State Fullerton
3. William Walsh, Pepperdine
4. Brady Siravo, Pepperdine
5. Kevin Li, Seattle University


Stanford Regional

At Stanford Golf Course

Teams

1. Florida State
2. Ole Miss
3. Illinois
4. Texas A&M
5. Stanford
6. UCLA
7. SMU
8. Missouri
9. Fresno State
10. UNLV
11. Augusta (Southland champion)
12. Liberty champion
13. Sacramento State (Big Sky champion)
14. Sierra (Metro Atlantic Athletic champion()

Individuals

1. Enrique Dimayuga, Nevada
2. Ben Warian, Minnesota
3. Jacob Melin, San Francisco
4. Cole Rueck, Boise State
5. Joe Sykes, Idaho


Austin, Texas Regional

At The University of Texas Golf Club

Teams

1. Tennessee
2. Arkansas
3. Texas (Big 12 champion)
4. Georgia
5. Wake Forest
6. Notre Dame
7. UNC Greensboro
8. Brigham Young
9. Utah
10. San Jose State
11. Grand Canyon (Western Athletic champion)
12. Arkansas State (Sun Belt champion)
13. Kansas City (Summit League champion)

Individuals

1. Gustav Frimodt, TCU
2. Luke Gutschewski, Iowa State
3. Huner Bott, UTSA
4. Cooper Schultz, Kansas State
5. Kobe Valociek, Virginia Tech
6. Joseph Sullivan, FGCU
7. Erik Jansson, Jacksonville State
8. Justin Biwer, Colorado
9. Alexandre Vandermoten, Jacksonville
10. Peicheng Chen, St. John's