COLUMBUS, Ohio (May 8, 2017) -- FIU senior Camila Serrano (Bogota, Colombia) shot a 4-over 76 and finished in a tie for 22nd after round one of the NCAA Columbus Regional, competing on the OSU Golf Club-Scarlet Course at The Ohio State University Monday. For day one, the course was set up at par-72 and 6,416 yards. The three-day event, to get the best golfers and teams in the country into the National Championship, continues with 18 holes Tuesday and a final round of 18 on Wednesday.
 
Serrano, the Conference USA Golfer of the Year, began play this morning with two of the five other individuals selected to the regional, after a frost delay of more than an hour Monday morning due to overnight temperatures reaching in the mid-30s.
 
She bogeyed two of her first four holes in the morning before producing five-straight pars to sit at 2-over at the turn. She again bogeyed two of her first four on the back nine, before a birdie at the par-4, 363-yard 15^th hole. Serrano had a bogey on the last two holes to finish in her spot on the leaderboard.
 
"It was cold, and really windy on some of the holes, and the greens are quick and very undulating," said FIU Head Coach Joe Vogel after the round. "Cami is playing with ear warmers and everyone has three or four layers on out there. The delay was close to 90 minutes for everyone. She fought hard and didn't give up today. The scores are high for everyone, for the most part. We went to the back of the green a couple of times and they mostly slope from back to front and you can't stop the ball coming back. She really hit the ball well, but couldn't get it close to the pins today. The birdie on 15 was from 17-18 feet out. She made some really good par putts today. With her game, she has the ability to hang in there and make a run. We'll practice a little bit this afternoon and call it a day."
 
At the conclusion of the event, the top six of the invited 18 teams and the best six individuals by final score on a team not advancing, will be moving onto the National Championships, which will take place May 19-24 in Sugar Grove, Illinois, at Rich Harvest Farms.
 
Because she is in the top three of the six individuals at the event, Serrano will again tee off on the first hole Tuesday morning. The scheduled tee time is 8:15 a.m. Eastern.

#######
 
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including Lime Court at FIU Arena and at Riccardo Silva Stadium.
 
About FIU: Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a "R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity" and recognized as a Carnegie Community Engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as business, engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy and is ranked second in Florida in Forbes Magazine's "America's Best Employers" list. FIU graduates are consistently among the highest paid college graduates in Florida and are among the leaders of public and private organizations throughout South Florida. 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 with multiple state-of-the-art research facilities including the Wall of Wind Research and Testing Facility, FIU's Medina Aquarius Program and the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute.  FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, the Miami Beach Urban Studios, and Tianjin, China. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.