Men's Golf wraps up first day of WWU Invitational

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Led by newcomers Ilia Antoniadis and Pranay Kapur, the Catawba College men's golf team stands eighth through the opening two rounds of the Western Washington University Invitational played Monday.

Antoniadis recorded a 69 in the first round followed by a one-over par second, totaling 142 strokes (-2) to stack up T-9th in the 71-player field. In his Catawba debut, Kapur carded an opening-round 70 en route to a Monday count of 143 (-1) and T-14th standing.

Paul Esnault eagled the 11th hole in the second round, one of Catawba's two eagles on Monday, as the Malone-Glenmoor Invite champion is currently T-45th at 151 (+7). Connor Carter sits in T-49th with a 153 (+9) while Allan Lockwood follows one stroke behind, heading into the final day T-55th at 154 (+10).

Defending national champion and top-ranked program Colorado Christian leads the pack by 23 shots, recording a 23-under par score of 550 in two rounds. Simon Fraser (573, -3) and host Western Washington (574, -2) are also lined up for podium finishes with under-par team performances. The individual leaderboard is topped by Xavier Bighaus (135, -9) and Sangha Park (136, -8) while Colorado Mesa's Cole Beyer (137, -7) rounds out the top three.

The final round of play begins tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. PDT).