VanArragon Leads Gene Miranda Falcon Invite

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Caleb VanArragon lit up Oak Ridge CC in the Minnesota State Open this summer, and Minneapolis GC the next week in the State Amateur, shattering pretty much every scoring record there was for both tournaments in the process. Now that the college season has started, he's at it again.

On Sunday, the Valparaiso grad student with a degree in his double major of biology and statistics shot a 5-under-par 67 on the Eisenhower Golf Course at the Air Force Academy. That put him in second place at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invite, but he didn't stay there, because on Monday he recovered from a shaky start by lighting up Eisenhower GC with seven birdies over the last 15 holes. That added up to another 67, and he leads the tournament by two strokes going into Wednesday's final round with his 36-hole total of 134.

Colorado State junior Christoph Bleier, who led after the first round with a 65, followed it with a 71, and he's tied for second at 136, along with Jacob Hrinda, a fifth-year senior at George Washington. He had Monday's low round, a 66.

There is a three-way tie for fourth at 139.

VanArragon bogeyed the first two holes on Monday, but he parred the third hole and got going in the right direction again by making birdies at the 409-yard, par-4 fourth hole and the 610-yard, par-5 fifth. He made consecutive birdies again on the 402-yard, par-410th and the 568-yard, par-5 11th, then birdied the three remaining odd-numbered holes, the 13th, 15th and 17th.

His Valpo team, which led after a first-round 285 (minus 3), slipped back into fourth on Tuesday with a 289 for the day and an overall score of 574. That has them six behind the team leader, New Mexico State, which followed a 288 with a 280 for a two-day tab of 568. Colorado State is second at 571, and UC Davis third at 572.


Gene Miranda Falcon Invite

At Eisenhower Golf Course

Par 72, 7,541 yards

Colorado Springs, Colo.

Second-round results

1. New Mexico State. 288-280--568

2. Colorado State 292-279--571

3. UC Davis 293-279--572

4. Valparaiso 285-289--574

5. Cal Poly 290-285--575

6. Wyoming 300-280--580

7. CSU-Northridge 297-286--583

8. SIU Edwardsville 295-289--584

9. Gonzaga 292-295--587

10. Weber State 299-289--588

11. UC San Diego 302-287--589

12. Northern Colorado 300-290--590

T13. South Dakota 297-295--592

T13. UC Riverside 298-294--592

15. Utah State 304-290--594


Individuals

1. Caleb VanArragon, Valparaiso 67-67--134

T2. Christoph Bleier, Colorado State 65-71--136

T2. Jacob Hrinda, Geo. Washington 70-66--136

T4. Kamaljit Singh, UC Riverside 71-68--139

T4. Ben Quick, Cal Poly 71-68--139

T4. Brendan Thomas, Weber State 69-70--139

T22. Logan Hamak, South Dakota 73-72--145

T36. Cole Witherow, South Dakota 73-74--147

T82. Aaron Kuznik, Air Force 77-76--153

NE Joe Rohlwing, South Dakota DNP-74