Stephanie Meadow with the trophy she was awarded at Greyhawk Golf Club, Scottsdale, Arizona on Monday.

Curtis Cup reserve Stephanie Meadow finishes a close-up fourth

in America's top Thunderbird International Junior Championship

US-based teenager Stephanie Meadow, from Jordanstown, Northern Ireland and second reserve to the GB and I team for the upcoming Curtis Cup match, finished a highly creditable fourth on Monday in the American Junior Golf Association's Thunderbird International Junior Championship over 54 holes at the Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Stephanie had rounds of 72, 73 and 70 for a one-under-par total of 215 over a course of 6275 yards.
She finished only two shots behind the title play-off participants, Yueer Cindy Feng (Orlando) and US-based Israeli Laetitia Beck. Feng scored 72, 73 and 68, Beck 73, 69 and 71.
Feng retained the title at the fourth extra hole of the sudden-death play-off at the conclusion of what has become the highest-ranked girls' tournament in America. This year's field consisted of the top 30 girls and 48 boys from 15 US sttes and 18 different countries.
Notable players who finished behind Stephanie - who is bound for the University of Alabama in the autumn - were Victoria Tanco (fifth) from Argentina, the top player in the Golfweek/Titleist rankings, and 2009 US Junior Solheim Cup team players Alison Lee (sixth), Ani Gulugian (seventh), Jessica Korda (tied ninth) and Kristen Park (tied ninth).
Anthony Paolucci of Del Mar, California, posted a 12-under-par total and claimed a three-shot victory to win the boys' championship over a 7,112yd course.
LEADING GIRLS' TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72) Yardage 6275
213 Yueer Cindy Feng (US) 72 73 68, Laetitia Beck (Israel) 73 6971 (Feng won sudden-death play-off at fourth extra hole).
214 Rachel Morris (US) 71 71 72.
215 Stephanie Meadow (Northern Ireland) 72 73 70.