-- NCAA.com
OCALA, Fla. (May 20, 2011) -- Defending NCAA champion Augusta State started Friday’s second round tied for eighth after a first round 2-over-par 290. But following a round of 13-under led by Patrick Reed’s 5-under 67, the Jaguars blasted into the lead with one round remaining at the Florida Region.
ASU seniors Ollie Bengtsson and Carter Newman each shot 69 with Henrik Norlander adding a round of 2-under for the Jaguars’ 275 total.
However, there are still plenty of putts to make as seven teams will start Saturday within eight shots of the lead. The top 5 teams and the low individual not on a qualifying team advance to the NCAA Championships May 31-June 5 in Stillwater, Ok.
First round leader Florida shot 1-under 287 on Friday. Andres Echavarria cruised to a 68. The Gators are tied with North Carolina State, which was 3-under on Day 2, at 7-under for the week.
Baylor is 6-under with Arkansas, Kennesaw State and Georgia Southern all at 5-under. Southeastern Louisiana is hanging around at 3-under.
Kennesaw State, who shot 281 on Friday, has never qualified for the NCAA finals. SE Louisiana has qualified just once, in 1998.
The Wolfpack’s Michael Sutton followed up a first round 68 with a 67 and holds a one-stroke lead over Southeastern Louisiana’s Phillip Westerman in the medalist race. Westerman, who shot 67 on Thursday, carded a 69 on Friday and stands at 8-under. SE Louisiana’s Rhys West fired a 65 on Friday and is among seven players within two shots of the individual lead, including Central Florida’s Greg Eason, who birdied five of his first seven holes in route to a 67 on Friday.
Twenty-four players find themselves under par with 18 holes to play.
Click here for the Florida Regional Leaderboard
Virginia Tech Regional: Georgia Tech maintains lead
RADFORD, Va. – No. 4 Georgia Tech maintained its first round lead, shooting 5-over 293 on Friday, and will take a 3-shot lead over Duke into Saturday’s final round.
The Yellowjackets got a 1-under 71 from James White and a 73 from Kyle Scott.
Duke shot 2-over 290 Julian Suri (2-under) and Wes Roach (1-under) leading the charge.
Oklahoma, Kent State and LSU will take the 3-4-5 spots into the final round with Coastal Carolina three shots behind LSU in sixth. Host Virginia Tech is four strokes out of fifth.
The Sooners have not qualified for the NCAA finals since 2006 and failed to participate in the 2003 Championships at Oklahoma State.
Only two players are under par through two days – Oklahoma’s Abraham Ancer and Tech’s Scott. Ancer shot 71 on Friday after an opening round 70 to stand at 3-under. Scott, who shot 68 on Thursday, carded a 73 on Day 2.
UNC-Wilmington’s Josh Brock and Tech’s White are at even-par with Davidson College’s Richard Fountain among a group of five at 1-over.
Click here for the East Regional leaderboard
Indiana Regional: Alabama, Illinois share lead after two days
ZIONSVILLE, Ind. – No. 3 Alabama and No. 9 Illinois are all square at 6-under through two rounds at the Indiana Regional. The Illini followed up Thursday’s 7-under 277 with a 285 on Friday while the Crimson Tide shot even-par 284 on Day 2.
Michigan has qualified for the NCAA finals just twice since 1968 (1997 and 2008) and sits in third just four strokes behind the leaders.
Iowa and Stanford round out the top 5 in the 14-team field. Stanford enters the final round seven shots better than sixth place Charlotte. David Chung shot even-par to lead the Cardinal, who shot 8-over on Friday.
Illinois’ 2010 NCAA medalist Scott Langley shot 69 Friday and holds a two-shot lead over Iowa’s Chris Brant, Alabama’s Bud Cauley, Michigan’s Joey Garber and Tennessee’s Garrick Ponteous in the medalist race. Cauley’s second round 71 included a double bogey on his final hole.
Memphis’ Jack Belote is a shot behind Ponteous in the race for the lone individual qualifying ticket. Eleven players are within four shots of Langley, who sits at 5-under.
With the exception of Porteous’ 3-under 68, Tennessee struggled through a 13-over round on Friday.
Wake Forest, an NCAA finals qualifier 43 times, stands at 24-over and 16 shots out of fifth. The three-time NCAA champs are in danger of missing the finals for a second consecutive season.
Click here for the Central Regional leaderboard
Southwest Region: San Diego State extends advantage
TUCSON, Az. – San Diego State shot a second straight 6-under 278 and leads Arizona by five shots after 36 holes. Four Aztecs broke par led by J.J. Spaun and Johan Carlsson, who each shot 2-under 69.
Jonathon Khan shot 3-under to lead Arizona to a 4-under 280 on Friday.
Texas A&M and Pepperdine sit in third and fourth, respectively, with California and Washington tied for fifth at 3-under. Texas Tech, Oregon State and Liberty are all within seven shots of fifth.
Oregon State’s Alex Moore followed up a 66 with a 69 on Friday and leads UC-Davis’ Matt Hansen by a shot in the individual race. Texas A&M’s Cameron Peck is two shots behind Moore with four players tied at 4-under 138 and three back. Pepperdine’s Josh Anderson, who shot 73 on Thursday, carded a 65 on Friday.
A day after shooting 81, A&M’s Conrad Shindler fired a 68 to help the Aggies shoot 282.
Click here for the Southwest Regional leaderboard
San Diego Region: USC remains atop leaderboard
RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. – Southern California and UCLA may have the top two spots under control. But nine teams are within nine shots and fighting for the final three qualifying berths with 18 holes to play.
USC holds a 5-shot lead over the rival Bruins with third place Ohio State 11 shots back. The Buckeyes shot 300 on Thursday but rallied with a 9-under 279 to climb the leaderboard. Michael Cress (68), Dan Charen (69) and Brad Smith (70) all broke par for OSU on Day 2.
SMU sits in fourth at 7-over, one shot better than San Diego. No. 11 Texas and Middle Tennessee State are tied at 9-over with Tulsa (10-over), North Texas (11-over), Pacific (11-over) and San Francisco (12-over) still very much in the hunt for a top 5 finish.
UCLA’s Patrick Cantlay shot 67 on Day 2 and leads Southern Cal’s Steve Lim by three strokes in the medalist campaign. Texas’ Dylan Fritelli and Middle Tennessee’s Jason Millard are five back.
Click here for the West Regional leaderboard
Colorado Region: Top-ranked Oklahoma State cruising along
ERIE, Colo. – For a second straight day Oklahoma State played good golf and Mother Nature played a role.
The top-ranked Cowboys held an 11-shot lead when play was halted during Friday’s second round. A day after his score was not one of the scoring four for Oklahoma State, Kevin Tway birdied six of his first 13 holes without a bogey and moved into a 3-way tie with Georgia’s T.J. Mitchell and Arizona State’s Scott Pinckney at 6-under.
Auburn stood second at 9-under with Arizona State in third at 7-under. Colorado State and Clemson were tied for fourth when play was stopped with TCU two shots back in sixth.
Colorado State has qualified for the NCAA finals just once, in 1999. Zakhai Brown, a day after shooting 7-under 65, was 9-over through nine holes on Friday. Brown took a quadruple bogey on the par-5 seventh hole.
Click here for the South Central Regional leaderboard