SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's golfer Alexa Pineda punched her ticket to the 125^th U.S. Women's Amateur Championship after an outstanding outing at the La Rinconada Country Club qualifier.

A native of San Carlos, Calif., Pineda will be making her second consecutive appearance at the U.S. Women's Amateur, which will be played Aug. 4-10, at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore. Entering her sophomore season, she is the first Bronco to qualify for the prestigious event since Sarah Busey in 2019.

Pineda turned in an outstanding 1-under 69 to tie for second at La Riconanda. She finished just one shot back from event champion Sneha Sharan, a two-time Big Sky Player of the Year from Sacramento State. Pineda was one of four golfers from the field of 73 that qualified for the U.S. Amateur joining Sharan, Olivia Duan (Princeton) and Lauren Sung (University of Michigan).

"I'm incredibly grateful and excited to have qualified for the U.S. Amateur," Pineda said. "It's something I've been working towards all summer and it feels really good to see that all my practice has paid off. I'm looking forward to competing in such a prestigious event at such an iconic course against the best amateur golfers in the country." 

Pineda played in four events during her freshman season with the Broncos. Her best finish was a tie for 22^nd at the Wolverine Invitational.