UCCS in First Place at Division I Falcon Invitational

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs golf team is trying to go where no Mountain Lion has gone before.

Behind a 5-under par 139 by Chris Shoop, UCCS found itself in the lead after the first two rounds of the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the Eisenhower Golf Club's Blue Course, both of which were played Sunday.

What's most remarkable about the Mountain Lions' lead is that they are the only NCAA Division II school in the competition. UCCS has been a regular at the Falcon Invitational over the years, but has never finished better than seventh, which happened in 2007, in the otherwise all-Division I field.

The Mountain Lions posted a team score of 573, good for 3-under par. San Diego goes into Monday's final round at even par, followed by New Mexico State (+1), Wyoming (+4), Colorado State (+6), UNLV (+7), Air Force (+11) and Colorado (+12). A total of 18 teams are competing in the tournament.

Shoop's day put him in second place for individual medalist honors, two strokes behind Colorado State's Ryan Peterson. Two strokes further back were Wyoming's Gabe Maier and San Diego's Gunner Wiebe.

UCCS' Riley Andrews and Brian Morfeld are each tied for eighth at 143 (1-under par). Spencer Biersdorff scored a 148 and Michael Tilghman a 153.

Another notable score was the 147 posted by UCCS' Mitch Buchner, who was playing unattached. He goes into Monday tied for 27th.