MIAMI (January 29, 2017) -- Following its successful fall portion of the 2016-17 campaign, the FIU women's gold program is ready to pick up where it left off by beginning the spring portion of the schedule. FIU will head to Ocala, Florida to compete in the Florida Challenge, a one-day, 36-hole event, hosted by UCF.
The event invites all collegiate golf programs from inside the state as a tune-up to the rigors of the spring schedule. FIU finished fourth among NCAA Division I programs in the state of Florida last year, which was won by the University of Florida last season.
In its last outing of the season, FIU won the 39th Annual Pat Bradley Invitational, beating 13 other squads in Sarasota. Senior captain Camilla Serrano (Bogota, Colombia) shot a 4-under 68 in the final round to earn third in the 54-hole event. and lead the Panthers to the tournament win, their first of the season.
"This is a good icebreaker, a good way to get warmed up and going in the spring. The field will be deep," said FIU Head Head Coach Joe Vogel. "We have to keep getting better and continue to grow as a team. We really worked hard in the weight room in this break and we will need that in the end. All things point to the conference tournament and we just hope to peak at the right time."
Through the four fall tournaments, Serrano is the team leader with a 71.6 stroke average. She has eight if her 12 rounds at or below par this season. In three of the four tournaments played, she has finished in the top five.
Junior
Katerina Krasova (Ricany, Czech Republic) sits second on the squad with a stroke average of 74.4, with four of her 12 rounds at par or better. She has a top-ten finish to her credit.
Following this one-day event, the Panthers will play locally at the Hurricane Invitational, hosted by Miami (Florida) in Coral Gables.
That three-day event is February 27 to March 1.
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports, and is a proud member of Conference USA. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and the FIU Football Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
