Cedar Rapids, Iowa----- Kevin Velo posted San Jose State University's best score of the day, a two-under par 70, as the Spartans remained in fourth place after 36 holes of the GolfWeek Conference Challenge.
Velo played the 7,112-yard, par 72 Donald Ross Course at the Cedar Rapids Country Club recording three birdies and a team low one bogey. He moved into a 13th place in the individual race at two-under 142.
Velo's 70 and Sean Yu's 71 were the top scores for a San Jose State team total of 290 for a 36-hole team score of 573. The Spartans are one of six teams under par at three-under 573 in the 16-team field. Arkansas State posted the best 18-hole team score in the middle round with a 276 and a 553 total.
Host Iowa is a distant second at 565. Campbell at 572 and San Jose Sate and Jacksonville tied for fourth at 573 round out the top-five teams in the field.
"We did have a bit of a battle. We learned a lot. We have to stick to our game plan a little bit better than what we did today. This is 'big boy' golf. When you break away from logical, disciplined golf, you're going to pay the price and we did today," said San Jose State men's golf coach John Kennaday. He added pin placements seemed tougher in the hot and humid Midwest conditions.
Arkansas State's Julien Sale is the individual leader with an eight under par 136. He is the only golfer in the 85-player field with two sub-70 rounds posting scores of 69 and 67. Yu of the Spartans is one of five players tied for fifth at 140. Three players are one stroke ahead of Yu at 139.
After an opening round 70, Bryce Wortman carded a 77. Ben Campbell shot a 76 and freshman Matt Heitel had his second consecutive one-over par 73 and is a 32nd place tie at 146 heading into the final round. Wortman is in a 44th place tie and Campbell is tied for 57th place.
The 54 hole tournament concludes with 18 holes on September 18. Live stats coverage is available at golfstat.com.