Feb. 25, 2008

Results

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Illinois State men's golf team currently stands alone in third place at the Argonaut Invitational, hosted by the University of West Florida at the Pensacola Country Club. The Redbirds were led on day one by junior Ben Murphy and red shirt sophomore Joe Emerich, who are tied for fourth place with two-round-totals of 142.

Emerich posted scores of 72 and 70 on day one, while Murphy tallied a pair of 71's to leave the duo just five strokes back of leader Scott Langley of Illinois.

As a team, the Redbirds recorded a two-round-team-total of 574 (289, 285) and are just two strokes behind second place, and in-state rival Illinois. The University of West Florida leads the 10-team event by 14 strokes after firing a day-one-team-total of 558 (276, 282).

Head coach Ray Kralis was pleased with the way his team came out of the gates.

"Today was a confidence booster for us and a big step in the right direction," said Kralis. I am very proud of our guys for backing up a solid first round with an even better afternoon round. We are excited about the opportunity and the challenge in front of us tomorrow."

All five Redbirds finished day one in the top-30 individually. Sophomore Tommy Bliefnick and true freshman Jeff Kellen are currently tied for 16th after each posting two-round-totals of 145. Bliefnick posted scores of 74 and 71 while Kellen carded a 72 and 73, respectively. Sophomore Drew Miller rounded out the Redbirds scoring finishing the day in a 26th place tie after tallying a two-round-total of 147 (74, 73).

The Argonaut Invitational concludes Tuesday, with the final 18 holes scheduled for a 9 am. shotgun start.