This might be the shortest Rainbow Wahine golf team in history, which means little. For sure it is the youngest, which could be big.

In the windy oceanside serenity of Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course on Wednesday, Hawaii reached out and seized seventh place, its best finish in the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in three years.

Four freshmen and sophomore Nichole Cruz made up the UH team this week. Freshman Izzy Leung led the Wahine for the seventh time in as many starts, tying for 18th individually.

The 5-foot-1 ball launcher from Hong Kong closed with a 1-over-par 73 that included one birdie, two bogeys and almost no wasted motion.

"She’s a lot more seasoned than the others," said Wahine coach Lori Castillo. "She’s had a lot more opportunity to play at a high level, through the Hong Kong junior golf federation. She’s been part of a team for a long time. I thought she was a pretty good player when I recruited her. Then I gave her an offer she was really happy with and I think her golf game really blossomed after that."

Castillo first saw Leung at Junior Worlds. Leung was attracted by "Hawaii first of all," and figured she would "always be playing really nice courses." The opportunity to major in marine biology was also enticing.

Leung describes her extremely young team Charlee Kapiioho-Sagum and Liana Otake are the only seniors simply as "open."

That’s what Castillo is looking for.

"I’m looking for people that are independent, that like to compete, that are looking forward to an adventure in Hawaii," she says. "Independent in that they can manage their time.

"And they need to be competitive.

"And, school and golf are equally important to them."

That is somewhere between what the coaches of schools with rich golf tradition are seeking and what Columbia coach Kari Williams is looking for.

The former Wahine, who won two Jennie K. titles, is in her eighth year as the Lions’ coach. They won the Ivy League her first season. Last year, Kalaheo valedictorian Monique Ishikawa joined Williams’ squad, and led after the first day of her first tournament.

This week, Williams and Ishikawa and her family are trying to introduce the team to poke, plate lunches and boiled peanuts. But mostly, they are all enjoying the balmy weather.

Columbia is located in New York City’s Morningside Heights, sometimes known as the "gentrified Harlem." It is five subway stops from Times Square and a 25-minute drive from Knickerbocker Country Club, its practice facility in New Jersey.

Since the snow started in this historical winter, the Lions have been hitting off mats into snow banks. "When they turn blue," Williams jokes, "I bring them in."

The first grass they saw this year came in Monday’s practice round. Ishikawa, introduced to Williams at the 50th Jennie K., has "rolled with it" according to her coach, who appreciates that "she brought a little Hawaii-ness with her" to the frigid Northeast.

Williams graduated from UH with an accounting degree in 1994. She recruits student-athletes just like Ishikawa: "Over-achievers who are good at golf the pool is really small. I need valedictorians who are athletes."

Castillo’s needs are different. She says this freshman class was ranked fifth based on its impact on her team in the fall season, moving the Wahine up 50 spots from a rating of 158th.

The goal is to reach regionals, either by winning the Big West championship next month or improving dramatically to have a shot at an at-large bid.

Hawaii moved up two places to seventh Wednesday, shooting 20-over-par 308 to finish at 917. That was 42 back of tournament champ Mississippi State, which beat everybody by at least 20 in the 29th annual Invitational, named in memory of the woman who started Hawaii’s women’s athletic department.

The 35th-ranked Bulldogs were led by Jessica Peng, a freshman from China who took second. She was a shot off the pace set by medalist Ines Lescudier, a Kennesaw State junior from France.

Lescudier finished at even-par 216 to become the first Owl to win more than one event.

Castillo hopes this year’s freshman class can make that happen in Manoa. Leung, whose scoring average is just over 75, is the most likely suspect. She had three top-six finishes in the fall.

Racquel Ek, a freshman from San Diego, already has four top-25s, including a tie for fourth with Leung at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational. Hawaii tied for second in that tournament, a shot away from winning its first title in nearly 20 years.

Wahine Kelli-Ann Katsuda, a 2013 Mid-Pacific Institute graduate, and Cruz tied for 24th on Wednesday. Freshman Brianna Becker, from Las Vegas, tied for 40th with teammate Daezsa Thomas, a 2013 Kauai High graduate who played as an individual.

The Wahine next host the Anuenue Spring Break Classic, March 24-26 at Kapalua’s Bay Course.