St. John's Draxler, Vangsness Are 1-2 in MIAC, But Johnnies' Lead Trimmed by Bethel

COON RAPIDS -- Sunday was better suited to running a marathon than it was to playing golf. It started out cold and windy, and this being 2013 (the year of the spring that never came), there had to be some rain. The wet stuff showed up in the middle of the day, just to make conditions for the second round of the MIAC Championships that much more challenging.

The adverse conditions were reflected in the four-player total produced by tournament leader St. John's. On Saturday, the Johnnies had put together a 287 (1 under par) at Bunker Hills GC, but their four-man aggregate was 22 strokes higher on Sunday, which put their cumulative 36-hole total at 596. 

Despite their difficulties on Day 2, they're still in first place. But Bethel cut into their lead by seven strokes with a 302, and the Royals, who have never won an MIAC title, will begin Monday's final round a mere four shots out of first place.

Augsburg has an outside chance, but will start out 10 behind at 606. St. Thomas is in fourth place at 610. The defending champions from Gustavus Adolphus are sixth, 24 behind at 620. (The Gusties' Alex Kolquist, who won the individual crown last year by 14 shots with a tournament record score of 207, graduated in the spring.)

St. John's, which has two NCAA Division III team championships in its recent history (2007 and '08), got off to a fast start on Saturday thanks in large part to Casey Vangsness, a senior from Alexandria who opened with a 5-under-par 67, and Brett Draxler, a junior from Benilde-St. Margaret's who shot 69.

No one else broke 70 in the first round. 

On Sunday, no one broke 72. Drexler managed to get around in 74, and he now leads by three with a two-day tab of 143. Vangsness, who tuned up for the college season by, among other things, winning the Resorters tournament this summer (he succeeded his brother Ben as the Resorters champion), wound up with a 79. He's now in second place at 146. 

Right behind him at 147 is Augsburg sophomore Brendon Jones, who followed a 72 with a 75. In fourth is Bethel's Davis Tollette, a sophomore from Andover who's at 148 after shooting a pair of 74's.

There's a second Augsburg player in the top 5, and that's freshman Brett Gaustad. His turned in the best score of the day, a 72, and is at 149. 


MEN'S COLLEGE GOLF
MIAC Championships
At Bunker Hills Golf Course
Par 72, 6,877 yards
Coon Rapids
Second-round results

Fin.  Top 20 teams                     Scores    Total    Par 
   1  Saint John's...................  287  309    596    +20
   2  Bethel.........................  298  302    600    +24
   3  Augsburg.......................  300  306    606    +30
   4  St. Thomas.....................  303  307    610    +34
   5  Concordia......................  298  314    612    +36
   6  Gustavus.......................  308  312    620    +44
   7  St. Olaf.......................  314  308    622    +46
   8  Macalester.....................  320  315    635    +59
   9  Carleton.......................  317  329    646    +70
  10  Saint Mary's...................  324  333    657    +81


Fin.  Top 20 Players                                          Scores   Total    Par 
   1  Brett Draxler--Saint John's.........................    69   74    143     -1
   2  Casey Vangsness--Saint John's.......................    67   79    146     +2
   3  Brandon Jones--Augsburg.............................    72   75    147     +3
   4  Davis Tollette--Bethel..............................    74   74    148     +4
   5  Brett Gaustad--Augsburg.............................    77   72    149     +5
t  6  Alex Gabriel--St. Thomas............................    76   74    150     +6
t  6  Bennett Schroeder--St. Thomas.......................    74   76    150     +6
t  8  Charlie Johnson--St. Olaf...........................    74   77    151     +7
t  8  Landon Poss--Concordia..............................    71   80    151     +7
t  8  Bennett Smed--Bethel................................    74   77    151     +7
t 11  Alex Case--Bethel...................................    77   75    152     +8
t 11  Alex Kapraun--St. Thomas............................    73   79    152     +8