UH-Manoa plays in the 41st annual WAC Championship at San Joaquin Country Club in Fresno, Calif. Tulsa's David Inglis is going for his fourth individual title. Fresno State is defending team champion.

The University of Hawaii-Hilo joins six of the top 12 teams in NCAA Division II at the NCAA Division II West/Northwest Super Regional, hosted by Western Washington at the Bellingham Golf and Country Club.

UTEP's Chris Baryla is the WAC's top-ranked player at No. 23. in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. Inglis is at No. 37. Hawai'i senior Matt Kodama, who has six Top-10 finishes this year, is 54th.

"Matt is playing a different game now from everyone else on the team," Manoa coach Ronn Miyashiro said. "He's in some sort of zone now that every time he steps up to the tee box he knows he's going to hit it down the middle. And anything inside 20 feet on the green is going in the hole."

Tulsa is the highest-ranked team in the tournament, at No. 29. SMU is next at 33, UTEP 55 and FSU 74. Hawai'i shows up at 114th, but Miyashiro believes the WAC is wide open.

"Of the 10 teams, six or seven have a legitimate shot at winning," he said. "Knowing San Joaquin Country Club, 10 or 15 under as a team is a winning score."

It is a number the Rainbows can reach, if they avoid the first-round meltdowns that have plagued them all season. Miyashiro said Hawai'i's only chance at its inaugural NCAA team appearance is to win the WAC title.

MATT KODAMA

Kodama and James Beston, who finished 1-2 at the Hawai'i State Amateur Stroke Play in March, are the only UH seniors. Hawai'i will also lose Geoffery Stevens, who goes on his Mormon mission.

Miyashiro hopes to help fill the void with three freshmen recruits. University High's Travis Toyama, the 2002 Manoa Cup champion, and Moanalua's Ryan Perez recently committed to UH. Billy Bob Hoyt signed last fall.

NICK MASON

Hilo is seeded sixth in the West Region. There are five "super regionals." Each is made up of eight schools and five additional individuals from non-qualifying schools.

The winning school in each region earns a berth to the NCAA II Nationals, at Orlando, Fla., May 12 to 15. The next four teams qualify for consideration for a total of eight at-large berths.

Chico State is ranked No.1 nationally both by Golfstat and the NCAA Division II coaches poll, and seeded first in the West. Hilo is ranked 10th, led by Nick Mason's 71.8 stroke average.