LAREDO, Texas --- The first tournament of the spring for the Biola Eagles featured three rounds of competition against top teams in the NCAA Division II. Sami Penor took her place at the top of the field for the individual win, while the Biola squad took third. 

A two-stroke lead on the field did not faze Penor, as she entered the final round of the tournament. The Henderson, Nevada native came through with a round of 73 to cap off the event and secure the victory.

"Sami has always been a hard worker, but she put it in a different gear after returning from winter break," said head coach Jane Carr. "I think she realized that she is a senior and wants to finish the spring strong."

Penor (68, 74, 73, 215) never missed a beat throughout the competition, utilizing a ridiculous first round to gain a lead and strong second and third rounds to maintain it. A four-under opening 18 holes was followed up by a two-over round in the afternoon on Monday and a one-over round on Tuesday to seal the win. No other player went sub-par in the tourney, as Penor won the individual title by a margin of five strokes at one-under.

"It is really hard to win, especially when you have the reigning National Championship team in the field," added Carr. "Going into today I told Sami, 'par wins it'. She started the round off with a bogey and finished with 17-straight pars. Par did indeed win it today."

On Tuesday, the Eagles were paired up with the second-ranked and reigning-champions of Dallas Baptist. The team also had to battle No. 9 West Texas A&M and No. 11 St. Mary's. Behind Penor's impressive effort, the Eagles nabbed third place at the Jack Brown Memorial Tournament with a three-round score of 905 (+41). The total came up one stroke shy of second-place Texas A&M International and 17 strokes short of the victors from DBU.

Carr was proud of how the team stood up against top-tier foes, "We were paired today with DBU, but our players weren't intimidated at all. This is a championship team. We have more work to do, but this week we gained confidence that we can compete at the highest level."

The remaining four competitors for Biola all wrapped up the tourney pretty evenly between 233 and 238 total strokes. Melanie Reyes completed the event with a score of 80 to post the second-best total for Biola (79, 74, 80, 233).

Brady Turnquist overcame a tough round two to net the best individual score amongst the field in round number three. The sophomore turned in a scorecard of 71 (-1) on Tuesday to finish the tourney with a total of 236. 

"Brady struggled in the second round. I know it was tough on her, but she didn't let it show. She is an incredible fighter and tough competitor. I knew she was going to go under par today and she did!" said Carr.

"Rachel was a strong contributor today. After starting out three-over through the first two holes, she went on to get 14 pars," added Carr. The tenacity from Rachel Shaw proved crucial for the Eagles, as the freshman displayed great poise to put together a 77 (+5) final round. Shaw was the third-best scorer for Biola, offering rounds of 81, 76, and 77 for a total of 234.

Lauren Lee (78, 77, 83) came in as the final scorer for BU. The freshman slid into 34th place amongst the individuals with the total score of 238.

Biola will be back in action next Monday at the 2022 Visit Stockton Invite for the two-day invite in Stockton, California.