College Sports
Kansas State University
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Playing in its first postseason in eight years, the Kansas State women’s golf team is set to begin its quest for the first NCAA Championship appearance in program history next Monday through Wednesday as the Wildcats compete in the 2025 NCAA Lexington Regional at the par-72, 6,322-yard Keene Trace Golf Club in […]
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Playing in its first postseason in eight years, the Kansas State women’s golf team is set to begin its quest for the first NCAA Championship appearance in program history next Monday through Wednesday as the Wildcats compete in the 2025 NCAA Lexington Regional at the par-72, 6,322-yard Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
K-State, which is the No. 5 seed for the regional, is one of 12 squads vying for a spot in the 2025 NCAA Championship as the top five teams and top individual not on an advancing team will move on to the championship, May 16-21, at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
“Our season starts Monday,” head coach Stew Burke said. “The ladies have played a lot of great golf throughout the semester to get us in this position. However, it is now top five or go home, and I don’t think anybody on this roster is ready for the season to end. Ultimately, we will continue to focus on each round at a time and see where three good rounds leave us at the end of the tournament. I can promise you that these ladies are ready to take the leap to the next level.”
The top four seeds in the NCAA Lexington Regional are No.1 Florida State – the ACC Champion – No. 2 USC, No. 3 TCU and No. 4 Vanderbilt. Other teams competing consist of Georgia Southern, Pepperdine, Louisville, Miami, Conference USA Champion Western Kentucky, Ohio Valley Champion Morehead State and Northeast Champion Fairleigh Dickinson.
The Wildcats will use the same lineup as the Big 12 Championship in seniors Carla Bernat and Sophie Bert, freshman Nanami Nakashima, sophomore Alenka Navarro and junior Noa van Beek. Sophomore Julia Ballester Barrio will serve as the alternate.
“This will be a new experience for the majority of the team, but it’s great to have Carla and Sophie who have had some postseason experience,” Burke said. “Keene Trace is a great golf course with many similarities to our home at Colbert Hills.”
Bernat enters the postseason after being selected as the 2025 Big 12 Women’s Golfer of the Year and was joined on the All-Big 12 Team by Bert. A native of Castellon, Spain, Bernat is the second player in program history to earn the conference’s top honor (Christine Boucher – 2003-04), while it was the first time ever the Wildcats had two All-Big 12 golfers in the same season.
The 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur Champion, Bernat currently owns the school’s single-season (70.09) and career (70.40) scoring average records. She enters the regional ranked 23rd in the National Collegiate Golf Rankings thanks to seven top-five finishes and a pair of victories, while she never finished outside the top 20 in any of her 11 appearances this season.
Bert won the 2025 Big 12 Championship to become the first Wildcat to ever to claim an individual conference championship, while she was also named the Big 12 Women’s Golfer of the Month for May. A transfer from East Tennessee State, Bert’s 72.75 scoring average this season ranks third in school history, while she also set (63) and tied (204) Kansas State’s single round and 54-hole scoring records, respectively.
Both Bernat and Bert enter the NCAA Lexington Regional with postseason experience under their belts. This will be Bernat’s fourth NCAA Regional after tying for 10th at the 2022 NCAA Stillwater Regional, 27th in the 2023 NCAA Athens Regional and third in the 2024 NCAA Bryan (Texas) Regional, the latter of which allowed her to advance to the NCAA Championship. Bert tied for 13th at last year’s NCAA Auburn Regional as part of ETSU’s Southern Conference Champion squad.
A native of Kani, Japan, Nakashima has competed in all 11 events this season and ranks third on the team with a 73.84 scoring average, and her best finish this season was a second-place showing at the Powercat Invitational.
Navarro has the fourth-best scoring average on the team at 74.03, just ahead of van Beek’s mark of 74.16. Those two players have combined for six top-20 finishes, and both have notched a top-10 showing this season. Navarro’s appearance in the top 10 was a tie for third place at the Powercat Invitational, while van Beek tied for seventh at the MountainView Collegiate.
Kansas State begins play at the 2025 NCAA Lexington Regional off the 10th tee on Monday morning starting at 8 a.m. (ET), as the Wildcats are paired with Vanderbilt and Georgia Southern. Live results can be followed on SCOREBOARD powered by Clippd.
K-State, which is the No. 5 seed for the regional, is one of 12 squads vying for a spot in the 2025 NCAA Championship as the top five teams and top individual not on an advancing team will move on to the championship, May 16-21, at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
“Our season starts Monday,” head coach Stew Burke said. “The ladies have played a lot of great golf throughout the semester to get us in this position. However, it is now top five or go home, and I don’t think anybody on this roster is ready for the season to end. Ultimately, we will continue to focus on each round at a time and see where three good rounds leave us at the end of the tournament. I can promise you that these ladies are ready to take the leap to the next level.”
The top four seeds in the NCAA Lexington Regional are No.1 Florida State – the ACC Champion – No. 2 USC, No. 3 TCU and No. 4 Vanderbilt. Other teams competing consist of Georgia Southern, Pepperdine, Louisville, Miami, Conference USA Champion Western Kentucky, Ohio Valley Champion Morehead State and Northeast Champion Fairleigh Dickinson.
The Wildcats will use the same lineup as the Big 12 Championship in seniors Carla Bernat and Sophie Bert, freshman Nanami Nakashima, sophomore Alenka Navarro and junior Noa van Beek. Sophomore Julia Ballester Barrio will serve as the alternate.
“This will be a new experience for the majority of the team, but it’s great to have Carla and Sophie who have had some postseason experience,” Burke said. “Keene Trace is a great golf course with many similarities to our home at Colbert Hills.”
Bernat enters the postseason after being selected as the 2025 Big 12 Women’s Golfer of the Year and was joined on the All-Big 12 Team by Bert. A native of Castellon, Spain, Bernat is the second player in program history to earn the conference’s top honor (Christine Boucher – 2003-04), while it was the first time ever the Wildcats had two All-Big 12 golfers in the same season.
The 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur Champion, Bernat currently owns the school’s single-season (70.09) and career (70.40) scoring average records. She enters the regional ranked 23rd in the National Collegiate Golf Rankings thanks to seven top-five finishes and a pair of victories, while she never finished outside the top 20 in any of her 11 appearances this season.
Bert won the 2025 Big 12 Championship to become the first Wildcat to ever to claim an individual conference championship, while she was also named the Big 12 Women’s Golfer of the Month for May. A transfer from East Tennessee State, Bert’s 72.75 scoring average this season ranks third in school history, while she also set (63) and tied (204) Kansas State’s single round and 54-hole scoring records, respectively.
Both Bernat and Bert enter the NCAA Lexington Regional with postseason experience under their belts. This will be Bernat’s fourth NCAA Regional after tying for 10th at the 2022 NCAA Stillwater Regional, 27th in the 2023 NCAA Athens Regional and third in the 2024 NCAA Bryan (Texas) Regional, the latter of which allowed her to advance to the NCAA Championship. Bert tied for 13th at last year’s NCAA Auburn Regional as part of ETSU’s Southern Conference Champion squad.
A native of Kani, Japan, Nakashima has competed in all 11 events this season and ranks third on the team with a 73.84 scoring average, and her best finish this season was a second-place showing at the Powercat Invitational.
Navarro has the fourth-best scoring average on the team at 74.03, just ahead of van Beek’s mark of 74.16. Those two players have combined for six top-20 finishes, and both have notched a top-10 showing this season. Navarro’s appearance in the top 10 was a tie for third place at the Powercat Invitational, while van Beek tied for seventh at the MountainView Collegiate.
Kansas State begins play at the 2025 NCAA Lexington Regional off the 10th tee on Monday morning starting at 8 a.m. (ET), as the Wildcats are paired with Vanderbilt and Georgia Southern. Live results can be followed on SCOREBOARD powered by Clippd.