LAREDO, Tex.---The Biola women's golf team finished a successful first round at the Jack Brown Memorial where they placed third of the nine teams at the Laredo County Club.

Biola faced some weather adversity in their first round, but was able to adjust to the challenge. Melanie Reyes led the Eagles' effort with a six-above-par scorecard of 78.

"Yesterday's practice round we saw a gust of wind upwards of 35 -40 mph," reflected head coach Jane Carr. "Today the expected forecast was no wind, but by the third hole we were battling 20 - 25 mph winds. On some holes it was tough to determine if the wind was helping, hurting, or a cross wind. We don't often play in these types of conditions so all in all I'm proud of where our team is sitting after round one. This isn't an easy course anyway, but when you add the wind it becomes very challenging."

Reyes was closely followed by Brady Turnquist who recorded a first round score of 79 and both Reyes and Turnquist led their team in birdies and par-scoring, recording two birdies and 10 pars each.

Rachel Shaw and Karis Haltom tied in their first rounds with matching scorecards of nine-above-par 81. Theresa Shaw was just one stroke behind them, carding 10-above-par 82 in her first round.

BU's first round team score was 319 which put them in third place of the nine teams in attendance. Ahead of Biola was nationally-ranked No. 4 West Texas A&M and St. Mary's University who was receiving votes (RV) in the last Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) poll.

Heading into tomorrow's final round, Biola chases second place St. Mary's by seven strokes (312) and first place West Texas A&M by 15 (304).

Also in the field at the Jack Brown Memorial was RV Texas A&M International, who sat in fourth place after the tournament's first round (322, three strokes behind Biola).

Laura Ortiz competed as an individual for Biola, recording 11-above-par 83 in her first round.

The Eagles will begin their second and final round tomorrow Tuesday, Feb. 6 with a shotgun start time of 6 a.m. PT.