Aggies make second-round move at regional tournament

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- After a distasterous opening round on Monday at the NCAA II South Central Regional Championships, the Cameron men's golf team entered the second day of competition needing to take a significant bite out of a 26-shot deficit in the overall team standings to keep its national tournament berth hopes alive. The Aggies did just that on Tuesday, posting a 288 for the low team score of the day at Millwood Country Club to get within striking distance of the lead entering Wednesday's final round.

Coach Jerry Hrnciar's crept up from seventh in the team standings to a tie for fifth after 36 holes, trailing tournament leader Northeastern State by just 12 strokes with a two-round total of 602 (+42). The regional champion receives an automatic berth to the 2004 NCAA II National Championships, which are scheduled for May 10-13, at Victoria Hills Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.

Leading the way for Cameron on Tuesday was junior Ryan King, who shaved 10 strokes off his opening round score to lead all players with a 69 (-1). The effort vaulted the Duncanville, Texas, native from 30th to eighth in the individual standings. In fact, each of Cameron's five golfers improved their individual standing on Tuesday. Freshman Owen Mahaffey followed his opening-round 77 with a 73 to move from 21st to 10th. Travis Lovins cracked the individual Top 15, as well, posting a 73 in the second round. Collin Garrett and Brad Aycock shot 73 and 76, respectively, to move up the individual leaderboard, as well.

Key to Cameron's success on Tuesday was a dramatic turnaround from the two holes that did the most damage to Aggie scores in the first round. Cameron dropped 18 collective strokes to par on the sixth and seventh holes Monday, but played the same two holes in just four-over-par as a team on Tuesday. The Aggies also doubled their overall birdie total from the day before, picking up 12 in the second round, including four from Mahaffey and three each from King and Garrett.

Northeastern State took over the tournament lead from West Texas A&M on Tuesday, despite shooting a 20-over-par team score of 300. St. Edward's University of Texas slipped into the No. 2 spot, just two strokes back of NSU with a 299. West Texas A&M is third after a 305 on Tuesday, while Abilene Christian posted a team score of 301 to land in fourth place. Cameron is tied with Lone Star Conference rival Central Oklahoma at fifth.

TOURNAMENT NOTES:
- Cameron's 288 team score on Tuesday was 11 strokes better than the nearest competitor. Three teams (St. Edward's, Central Oklahoma, Southwestern Oklahoma) posted team scores of 299.
- The Aggies' team score also equaled the lowest team score of the tournament through two rounds. West Texas A&M captured the early lead with a 288 in Monday's first round, before slipping into third place on Tuesday with a 305.
- Cameron entered this week on a three-tournament win streak. The Aggies won team titles at the UCO/Kickingbird Classic and the Southwestern Oklahoma Invitational before claiming the school's sixth Lone Star Conference title late last month.
- Live scoring of each round of the 2004 NCAA II South Central Regional Championships, including team and individual updates after every three holes played, is available on the internet at www.golfstat.com.

2004 NCAA II South Central Regional Championships
Millwood Country Club (Springfield, Mo.) Par 70 - 6,494 yards
current position	team	scoring			rounds		total score
		to par	thru	today	1	2
1	Northeastern State	+30	F	+20	290	300	590
2	St. Edward's (Texas)	+32	F	+19	293	299	592
3	West Texas A&M	+33	F	+25	288	305	593
4	Abilene Christian	+37	F	+21	296	301	597
T5	Cameron University	+42	F	+8	314	288	602
T5	Central Oklahoma	+42	F	+19	303	299	602
7	St. Mary's (Texas)	+59	F	+29	310	309	619
8	Southwestern Okla.	+63	F	+19	324	299	623

Cameron Individual Scores
position		player	scoring			rounds		total score
current	start		to par	thru	today	1	2
T8	T30	Ryan King (10)	+8	F	-1	79	69	148
T10	T21	Owen Mahaffey (10)	+10	F	+3	77	73	150
T14	T25	Travis Lovins (10)	+11	F	+3	78	73	151
T24	T32	Collin Garrett (10)	+13	F	+3	80	73	153
T38	42	Brad Aycock (10)	+21	F	+6	85	76	161

(10) = Started Round 2 on hole No. 10 on Tuesday.