GUADALAJARA, Mexico - The Maryland women's golf team was able to hold its position to finish eight at the IJGA Collegiate Invitational Tuesday. The Terrapins moved up five spots in the team standings in the second round Monday and held strong in the final nine holes Tuesday morning. 
 
They finished the tournament eighth out of 14 teams in the field, topping five top-50 teams.
 
After the first round Sunday, the Terrapins were in 13^th with a score of 301. They improved their second round score by 20 strokes to 281 and moved to eighth. They concluded their third round on Tuesday with a score of 294.  The Terps finished  ahead of five top 50 teams - No. 37 Texas A&M, No. 15 Arkansas, No. 49 Michigan, No. 36 Clemson, No. 42 Tennessee. 
 
The team scored a total of 12 birdies in their third round.
 
Junior Laura Van Respaille led the Terps and tied for 12^th with her score of 215 (74-69-72), which was one stroke under par. She had 11 birdies in the overall tournament.
 
Juniors Charlotte Lafourcade and Virunpat Olankitkunchai tied for 17^th with an overall score of 217 for a total of 1 stroke over par.  Lafourcade scored 76-66-75 (217), picking up 11 birdies overall and six of those plus an eagle in the second round. Olankitkunchai scored 73-72-72(217) and picked up nine birdies for the tournament, averaging three birdies per round.  
 
Sophomore Elena Verticchio earned a score of 228 (70-74-75), which was 12 strokes over par, Senior Xiaolin Tian owned a score of 234 (78-79-77).

"This event was awesome. It was so special to take our team back to my home country. It was a great golf course, venue and, of course the food! We felt so welcomed," head coach Diana Cantu said. "I knew the team was close to breaking through and after a tough first round, we stuck with it and shot the lowest round of the tournament the second day with a 7-under. It's all about our players believing they are ready to go low. Only two other teams in the field shot a round of 7-under during the event. We came in as the 13th best ranked team in the field, finishing 8th is a good boost of confidence for us. 

"I'm very proud of Laura, Charlotte and Virunpat. They really were solid this week and Charlotte's 6 under par round was her career best! It was so much fun to watch."
 
The Terrapins, ranked No. 58 nationally, will have a two weeks break before competing again at the Hurricane Invitational March 2-3. The event will be held at the Biltmore Golf Course Miami, Coral Gables, Fla. hosted by the University of Miami.