MARYVILLE, Mo. – At less than full strength, College of Saint Mary battled frigid conditions on Friday at the Graceland Spring Invitational and came way with some excellent results at the midway point of the two-day event at the Mozingo Lake Golf Course.

With feels-like temperatures in the low-to-mid 40s and a six-hour battle of endurance to play 18 holes, CSM finished the first round in third place out of the nine teams. Indian Hills Community College led after one round with a score of 330, followed by Clarke University (358), CSM (382), Buena Vista University (383), Mount Marty University (391), Peru State College (397), North Iowa Area Community College (404), Waldorf University (448) and the Peru State 'B' (451).

The Flames competed without No. 1 player Emily Faubel as well.

"Given that, I am pleased with third place on day one,'' CSM Coach Keri Rodriguez said. "Scores were definitely higher than our average, but that was to be expected in these brutal conditions. Hoping for a strong finish and a possible bump up the standings tomorrow.''

Given the forecast for a frost delay early on Saturday, the competitors got a start on their second rounds until 7 p.m. on Friday, to make things more manageable on the final day.

Individually through round one, Victoria Farkas led the way with a 91, good for 11^th place. Katie Freeman was just behind in 13^th with a 92. Sofia Chavez was tied 27^th with a 99, while Erika Headlee and Frede Weiss were tied for 28^th with rounds of 100.