JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Haley Yerxa (Ottawa, Ontario/Hillcrest) shot a one-under par 71 to finish third individually and the FGCU women's golf team tied for the lowest team score of the day as the Eagles finished fifth at the First Coast Classic at the Deerwood Country Club. For Yerxa, the third-place finish marked her second top-5 performance of the season, while the performance on Tuesday for the team saw the Green and Blue move up two spots on the final leaderboard after Monday's opening two rounds.
 
FGCU finished the tournament with a score of 924 after posting its lowest score of the three rounds at 301 which tied with Arkansas State for the best of the day. Eastern Kentucky won the overall team title (897) followed by Arkansas State (908). The Eagles finished two strokes behind South Alabama and 12 behind third-place Western Kentucky.
 
"I am so proud of the way we played today which was much more reflective of our capabilities," said head coach Sarah Trew. "Conditions were still tough, but we were tougher mentally. I'm so proud of Haley for her wonderful play both days. It really was impressive with the conditions."
 
Yerxa finished the tournament with a 54-hole score of 220. She carded four birdies (eight total for the two days) on Tuesday to finish one-under par. It marked her second top-5 performance of the year after she won the Pat Bradley Invitational in October.
 
Laura Edmonds (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Cypress Bay) and Posie Farrelly (Lutz, Fla./George Steinbrenner HS) each finished in the top 20 with Edmonds tying for 13^th and Farrelly tying for 19^th. Edmonds shot a tournament-low 73 on Tuesday after playing through injury to finish with a three-round score of 231. She also posted four birdies on Tuesday as part of eight through the 54 holes.
 
The Eagles will return to Jacksonville on March 7-8 when they take part in the UNF Collegiate.
 
First Coast Classic – Jacksonville, Fla.
Deerwood Country Club – Par 72 – 6,002 yards
 
FGCU Lineup:
3 - Haley Yerxa – 77-72-71 – 220
T13 - Laura Edmonds – 80-78-73 – 231
T19 - Posie Farrelly – 77-79-79 – 235
T41 - Anouk Casty – 84-80-78 – 242
T47 - JoJo Bertelsen (indiv) – 83-84-80 – 247
53 - Sophia Warren – 80-83-87 – 250
 
First Coast Classic Field:
1 - #114 Eastern Kentucky – 304-289-304 – 897
2 - #120 Arkansas State – 311-296-301 – 908
3 - #139 Western Kentucky – 306-286-320 – 912
4 - #118 South Alabama – 307-304-311 – 922
5 - #124 FGCU – 314-309-301 – 924
6 - #169 Troy – 310-310-315 – 935
T7 - #131 Stetson – 315-307-318 – 940
T7 - #159 Georgia State – 317-309-314 – 940
9 - Daytona State – 311-327-324 – 962
10 - #178 High Point – 340-308-316 – 964
11 - #197 Marshall – 329-315-324 – 968