• Results (.pdf)

HUMMELSTOWN, Pa. (May 2) – Junior Paul Babashanian (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) finished the first round of the NCAA Atlantic/East Region Championships in fourth place on the leaderboard after shooting a three-under 69 (36-33) at the Hershey Links.

The California University of Pennsylvania men's golf team shot a 15-over 303 in the first round to finish 10th in the team standings. St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.) shot an eight-under 280 to take an eight-stroke lead after four players shot at or under par. IUP finished the first round with at even-par 288, while Clarion posted a three-over 291 behind a five-under 67 by Jared Schmader, the individual leader after the opening round.

Babashanian posted a three-under 69 to rank fourth overall in a field of 108 golfers. He totaled five birdies during the round, including four on the last nine holes when he shot a three-under 33. Babashanian leads the Vulcans with a scoring average of 76.0 strokes this season and has been the team's low scorer in three of the last five events.

Junior Austin Stoddard (Pittsfield, Pa./Youngsville) ranks second on the team and is tied for 44th overall after carding a four-over 76 (40-36) on Monday. He finished the round shooting an even-par 36 on the last nine holes with two birdies and five pars. Sophomore Justin Newbauer (Georgetown, Pa./South Side) was two strokes back of Stoddard at six-over 78 (41-37) and is in a tie for 64th overall at the Hershey Links, totaling four birdies during the round.

Redshirt freshman Chris Tull (Bluffton, S.C./Heritage Academy) posted an eight-over 80 (43-37) and is tied for 78th on the leaderboard, while freshman Nick Erlichman (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury) finished with a nine-over 81 (41-40) and is tied for 87th overall after the first round.

The top five teams and the top two student-athletes not with a team from the region championships will advance to the 2011 NCAA National Championships from May 16-20 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Florence, Ala.

The Vulcans continue play at the Atlantic/East Regional Championship tomorrow, Tuesday, May, 3, starting at 7:30 a.m. Live stats of the three-round tournament are available by clicking here.