April 29, 2005

SAN DIEGO - San Diego State junior Josh Warthen fired an even-par 72 on Friday in the second round to remain in the hunt for the individual title at the 2005 Mountain West Conference Championships in Sunriver, Ore.

Warthen made the turn at 2-over-par, but birdied 15 and 16 to end the round at even, and have a two-day total of 1-under-par 143. That leaves him in a tie for third place, four shots off the leading pace set by New Mexico's Spencer Levin.

As a team, the Aztecs shot a second-round 293, one stroke more than their first round total. Nonetheless, San Diego State slipped from first round tie for second place into fourth place after 36 holes. New Mexico leads the tournament at 6-under-par, four shots ahead of Brigham Young. UNLV is in third at 5-over-par, four shots in front of fourth place San Diego State.

SDSU senior Linus Nilsson is in ninth place after 36 holes following a second-round one-over-par 73. Nilsson had four birdies in his round, including two in the final five holes. He is one-over-par for the championship after opening with an even-par 72 yesterday.

Senior Gilberto Rodriguez fired a two-over-par 74 and his two-round total of three-over-par 147 places him in a tie for 17th place. Senior Aaron Choi and junior Andrew Scott both posted better second-round scores than their first-round totals from Thursday. Choi fired a two-over-par 74 while Scott posted a four-over-par 76. Through two rounds, Choi is 6-over-par and tied for 25th, while Scott id 9-over-par and tied for 28th.

The 54-hole tournament at the Sunriver Resort concludes with the third round tomorrow. Play begins at 9:30 a.m. PT and live scoring is available at goaztecs.com. The Mountain West Conference field features two teams ranked in the top five nationally (fourth-ranked UNLV and fifth-ranked New Mexico) and three teams ranked among the top 13 in the country (13th-ranked Brigham Young).

Second-Round Team Results
1.   New Mexico             285-285--570  (-6)
2.   Brigham Young          292-282--574  (-2)
3.   UNLV                   294-287--581  (+5)
4.   San Diego State        292-293--585  (+9)
5.   Colorado State	        297-292--589  (+13)
6.   Utah                   300-296--596  (+20)
7.   Wyoming                300-311--611  (+35)
8.   Air Force              312-302--614  (+38)

Second-Round Individual Leaders
1.   Spencer Levin, New Mexico       69-70--139  (-5)
2.   Nick Becker, BYU                71-69--140  (-4)
3.   Josh Warthen, SDSU              71-72--143  (-1)
     Charlie Beljan, New Mexico      74-69--143  (-1)
     Ron Harvey, Jr., BYU            71-72--143  (-1)
     Nate Pettit, Colorado St.       71-72--143  (-1)

San Diego State Individual Second-Round Scores
3.	Josh Warthen		71-72--143  (-1)
9.	Linus Nilsson		72-73--145  (+1)
17.	Gilberto Rodriguez		73-74--147  (+3)
25.	Aaron Choi		76-74--150  (+6)
28.	Andrew Scott		77-76--153  (+9)