Feb. 15, 2012

PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. (seminoles.com) - Florida State's Maria Salinas finished in a tie for 10th place in the individual standings and the Seminole women's golf team finished in 10th place in the team standings as play in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at the Palos Verdes Golf Club came to a close. The No. 32 ranked Seminoles finished ahead of four teams ranked higher in the national rankings including No. 14 Florida, No. 19 Oregon and No. 21 UC Davis.

No. 1 ranked UCLA won the team championship as they took the lead in the first round and ran away from the other 14 teams in the power packed field. The Bruins outdistanced nine teams ranked in the nation's top 25 by as many as 12 strokes. UCLA finished 12 strokes ahead of No. 4 ranked Southern California, 21 strokes ahead of No. 8 Arizona and 31 strokes ahead of No. 12 ranked Ohio State. Lindy Duncan of Duke won the individual title as she finished with an even par score of 210 - the only golfer in the 81 player field to finish at par.

Salinas (Lima, Peru) played her best golf in the first round of the event as she carded an even par 70. She finished the event at eight strokes over par and led the Seminoles with nine birdies during the three round event. Salinas played the final round with 11 holes at par or better including one birdie.

Her 10th place individual finish is her best of her senior season and marked her second top 10 finish in her last four events. She has now earned 10 career top 10 individual finishes including six during her three-year career at Florida State.

Freshman Laure Castelain (Bordeaux France) finished in a tie for 35th place in the individual standings with a 228 total for the 54 holes she played. She led the Seminoles during the final round with a five over par score of 76 - her second best score of the event. Castelain carded a two over par score of 73 in the first round of the tournament.

"We have some great things to work on - things that are easy to fix," said head coach Amy Bond. "We are going to get better. A lot of positives came out of this tournament as did a lot of things we have to work on. Travelling with three freshmen is only going to help us. I really feel that our immediate future is very bright."

Florida State continues its six match regular season at the AllState Sugar Bowl Classic at the English Turn Golf and Country Club in New Orleans, Feb. 26-28.

Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge/Par 71/Final Florida State Results
Palos Verdes Golf Club/Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Feb. 13-15, 2012
10/14.  Florida State     296    309   310   915
T10.    Maria Salinas     70     73    78    221
T35.    Laure Castelain   73     79    76    228
T42.    Malin Jansson     71     78    81    230
76.     Carlton Kuhlo     82     89    77    248
81.     Alex Milan        --     79    79    158

Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge/Par 71/Final Round Team Results
Palos Verdes Golf Club/Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Feb. 13-15, 2012
1.   UCLA                  870   9.    Michigan State    914
2.   Southern California   882   10.   Florida State     915
3.   Pepperdine            887   11.   Oregon            918
4.   Arizona State         891   12.   Florida           922
5.   Duke                  897   13.   Oklahoma          931
6.   Ohio State            901   14.   UC Davis          935
7.   Colorado              902   15.   Wake Forest       937
8.   Denver                908

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