Elena Kurokawa Class: Senior Hometown: Redondo Beach, Calif. High School: Redondo Union HS Height: 5-4 Birthdate: 07/26/1984 Experience: 3L

UNLV: Took her game to another level last year, developing into one of the top golfers in the Mountain West Conference ... Has a complete game and is the team's most consistent golfer ... Will be counted on to provide leadership to a young Rebel squad ... Has played the second-most rounds (98) and has posted the second-lowest scoring average (76.00) in UNLV history.

2004-05 Turned in a fine junior season, winning medalist honors at the MWC Championships with a one-over 214 (69-73-72) ... It was her first career win and capped a streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes during the spring ... Was named the MWC Player of the Year, marking the second consecutive season that a Rebel golfer won the award ... Struggled to begin last year, but following a fifth-place finish at the Las Vegas Founders Collegiate Showdown, she never finished out of the top 10 in her next eight tournaments ... Earned back-to-back MWC Golfer of the Month awards in February and March ... Fired a career low 67 (-4) at the Spartan Invitational, which was tied for the second-lowest round by score and par in Rebel history ... Finished her year with a 74.56 scoring average, the second-lowest single-season average on record.

2003-04 Avoided the sophomore slump in a big way, posting the third-lowest per-round average on the team with a 76.41 ... Had five sub-par rounds and finished in the top 20 four times ... Highest finish of the season was a seventh-place ending at the MWC Championships, when she posted a three-round total of 217 (+4) ... Played in a total of 36 rounds.

2002-03 Turned in a strong freshman campaign, playing in every round of every tournament and finishing third on the team with a 77.03 stroke average ... Played three rounds under par, including her season-best 70 at the MWC Championship ... Tallied back-to-back top-10 finishes, tying for sixth at the BYU Dixie Classic just before a fourth-place finish at the conference championship ... Ranked 34th among U.S. junior girls at the time of her signing ... Named a Freshman To Watch by Golfweek.

High School A 2002 graduate of Redondo Union HS in Redondo Beach, Calif. ... Three-time letterwinner for coaches Tom Chaffins and Gary Whidden ... Led the Seahawks to three straight Ocean League titles and won the individual title each year ... Two-time AJGA All-American ... Advanced to match play at the U.S. Women's Public Amateur Links last summer ... Won the AJGA John Deere Classic in 2001 and the AJGA Tucker Anthony Junior in 2000.

Personal Elena Kurokawa was born July 26, 1984, in Tokyo, Japan ... The only daughter of Masahiro and Keiko Kurokawa ... Has two brothers: Ron (12) and Randy (4) ... Majoring in psycology.

Ringler on Kurokawa "Elena is determined to be the top player in the conference again and she will be one of our leaders. I expect great things from her this year."