BERKELEY, Calif. -- Head Coach Nancy McDaniel announced that Elena Arias has signed a National Letter of Intent to join the California women's golf team for the 2018-19 season.
 
Arias hails from Gijon, Spain and attended IES El Piles for secondary school. She is ranked 356^th in the most recent World Amateur Golf Rankings.
 
Arias has had a fantastic amateur career so far which saw her help Spain to a championship at the World Junior Girls Championship this September. The Spanish side came from eight strokes behind to force a playoff, Arias was the first golfer to knock in a birdie as Spain went 2-under on the first playoff hole to claim the championship over the South Korean team.
 
Arias won Spanish Ladies International Stroke Play Championship this past May as she carded a 3-under 213 over three rounds. Arias was in first after one round as she posted a 3-under 69 in the first round. A second round 76 seemed to have knocked her out of contention before she finished the tournament with a 4-under 68 to storm back into the lead and claim the title.
 
Arias has also recorded top-20 finishes at the 2017 European Girls Team Championship, the European Nations Cup and the Spanish Ladies Amateur. She also took 36^th in the 2017 European Ladies Amateur Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland.
 
In 2015, Arias won the U-16 Lacoste Promesas and finished as the runner-up at the U-16 Spanish National Championship. She helped team Asturias to wins at the Spanish Interautonomico U-18 in 2016  and the Spanish Interautonomico (interstate) Championships in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
 
She is the daughter of Racquel Quiros and Helios Arias. Elena Arias becomes the second member of the 2018 signing class, joining Katherine Zhu from the Harker School in San Jose, Calif. She will be the second Spaniard on next year's team, joining current sophomore Maria Herraez.