SORRENTO, Fla. – The FGCU women's golf team got off to a strong start Sunday, Mar. 20 at the Morehead State University Spring Citrus Challenge. The Eagles carded a 294 in the first of three rounds at the Red Tail Golf Club and stand in a tie for second place among the 20-team field.
 
The Eagles' plus-6 score stands just two strokes behind tournament leader Jacksonville State's 292. The Green and Blue matched the performance of Ball State, Western Kentucky and Elon and stands ahead of host Morehead State, Cincinnati, Atlantic Sun Conference foe Stetson, James Madison and Murray State within the event's top-10.
 
"We played much better today and much more like we are capable of," said head coach Sarah Trew. "We had some time off since our last event. We were able to have some solid practices and a really good session with our sport psychologist to get us where we wanted to be. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary today, we just played our game and stayed very patient. Attitudes were great today, everyone had an upbeat and focused demeanor. We have put ourselves in a nice position after the first day and we need to stick to the same game plan tomorrow."
 
Senior Mei Khuan Yong (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia/ S.M.K. Cochrane), freshman Madeline Marck-Sherk (Ridgeway, Ontario/Ridgeway Crystal Beach High School) and junior transfer Megan Blonien (Altus, Okla./Altus High School/Oklahoma State) led the Green and Blue, each with a top-10 finish in the first round. The trio each carded a plus-1 score of 73 in the first round to top the team and push the Eagles into a strong position after one round.
 
The round was highlighted by Blonien's performance on hole 5 as she holed out from 126 yards to give the team a spark. The Eagles saw birdies from each member of the lineup and maintained composure and focus through the first round.
 
Sophomore Madison Easterbrook (Burlington, Ontario/Aldershot High School) carded a score just two strokes behind the trio at 75. The plus-3 score places Easterbrook among the field's top-30 players with two rounds remaining.  Senior Sara Detlefsen (Eagan, Minn./Minnesota Virtual Academy) rounded out the team's lineup with a score of 80 in the first round, while freshman Kelsy Holbert (Lutz, Fla./Steinbrenner High School) also carded an 80 while playing as an individual.
 
The Eagles will play two more rounds at the MSU Spring Citrus Challenge with single rounds on Monday, Mar. 21 and Tuesday, Mar. 22. FGCU will tee off on hole 1 between 9:15 a.m. and 9:51 a.m. Monday morning.
 
Live scoring for the Citrus Challenge will not be available but complete results will be available at FGCUAthletics.com daily.
 
TEAM RESULTS (GolfStat Ranking)

1	Jacksonville State (255)	292
2	FGCU (153)	294
	Ball State (183)	294
	Western Kentucky (126)	294
	Elon (96)	294
6	Morehead State (109)	297
	Cincinnati (129)	297
8	Stetson (134)	299
9	James Madison (137)	300
10	Murray State (139)	301
11	McNeese State (179)	304
	North Florida (103)	304
13	Ohio (172)	307
14	Daytona State (N/A)	308
15	Georgia State (162)	312
16	Northern Kentucky (225)	315
17	Akron (136)	317
18	Marshall (173)	322
	Nebraska-Omaha (242)	322
20	Central Michigan (235)	330

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

T10	Mei Khuan Yong	73
T10	Madeline Marck-Sherk	73
T10	Megan Blonien	73
T28	Madison Easterbrook	75
T84	Sara Detlefsen	80
T84	Kelsy Holbert*	80

 
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU women's golf program, follow on Twitter at @FGCU_WGolf and on Facebook at /FGCUWGolf.       
 
Head coach Sarah Trew enters her fifth season at the helm of the FGCU women's golf team. Trew took over in 2011 and has since guided the Eagles to the program's best-ever finish in the Atlantic Sun Tournament and to 20+ top-10 finishes. A year ago, Trew led the team to several records on and off the course. The 2013-14 squad set a new single-season scoring record with a team average of 307.88, while also setting a new benchmark academically. The team earned a team grade point average of 3.8 in the fall semester and set the FGCU team record with a 3.92 during the spring of 2014. The spring of 2015 saw the Eagles again take third place at the A-Sun Championship, and recording their best team score of the season.