MIAMI, FLA. (FIUSports.com) – FIU sophomore Meghan MacLaren (Cambridge, United Kingdom) enters Tuesday's second round at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge tied for fourth place overall at even par after 18 holes on Monday. Played on the Fazio Course at the Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, Colo., the Panthers are in sixth after the first round amongst the 18 schools competing in this year's event.

Only seven golfers are either under or even par in the tournament, including MacLaren. Pepperdine has three golfers all at one-under (71), including Alina Ching, Marissa Chow and Grace Na. Tied for fourth at even par are Ball State's Jenna Hague, TCU's Sanna Nuttinen, Central Arkansas' Malin Senneryd and MacLaren.

Pepperdine leads the event with a one-over 289. FIU is in sixth at 20-over after hitting a 308 in the first round. Between the Waves and Panthers are TCU (+13), Denver (+15), UC Davis (+16) and East Tennessee State (+17).

The next highest placing FIU player is freshman Coralia Arias (Quito, Ecuador), who is tied for 25th in the standings at five-over (77). Arias is in her second collegiate tournament. Sophomore Sophie Godley (Notinghamshire, United Kingdom) is right behind tied for 30th at six-over (78).

Senior Shelby Coyle (Pembroke Pines, Florida) is tied for 49th after shooting an 81 in the first round and freshman Lesley Atkins (Harwick, Scotland) is tied for 53rd with an 82.

Of the 18 competing teams, 11 finished last year ranked among the top 100 in the country and six were ranked in the top 50. In addition FIU, the 18-team field at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge also features Arkansas-Little Rock, Ball State, Boston College, Central Arkansas, Denver, East Tennessee State, Harvard, Illinois State, Indiana, James Madison, Morehead State, Northern Arizona, Pepperdine, San Jose State, SMU, TCU and UC Davis.

Live-scoring will be available on GolfStat.com. A complete recap with results will be posted on FIUSports.com following the day's play.

###

About FIU Athletics: FIU is a proud new member of Conference USA. The University is home to more than 400 student-athletes across 18 intercollegiate athletic programs. The Panthers play events in seven venues on both the Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay campuses, including Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium, U.S. Century Bank Arena and Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center. FIUSports.com is the official website of FIU Athletics, providing fans with all the latest news and game day ticket information.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.