KINGSTON — Jake Johnson rallied after a rough start at the Class 5A state tournament on Monday to pull into a ninth-place tie at Chickasaw Pointe Golf Club in Kingston.

Johnson shot an 81 on the first round of 18 only to rebound with a 77 on the second 18. Johnson is in a three-way tie at 158.

Atop the individual leaderboard is El Reno’s Logan Gray, who carded a 4-over, 148 (74-74). In second place is Ardmore’s Jacob Oaks (74-75, 149).

Tahlequah followed Johnson’s lead by starting slow only to rebound on the second 18. However, the Tigers (701, 354-347) are in last place among 12 teams.

Deer Creek is in first place at 634 (319-315).

The rest of Tahlequah’s scores included Brent Spradlin (181, 89-92), Blake Cochran (190, 97-93), Hunter Pennington (174, 89-85), Kyler Arnall (188, 95-93).



NSU women still 9th

LITCHFIELD PARK, Ariz. — Kelsey Kirkpatrick fired an even-par 72 in Monday’s second round of the NCAA Division II Women’s Golf West Regional. However, the RiverHawks remained in ninth place with 18 holes remaining on Tuesday.

NSU improved by 10 strokes over Sunday’s round with a 307 on Monday at Wigwam Golf Course. Kirkpatrick, who is tied for 17th in the medalist race, has a 36-hole total of 151. Danielle Wright shot a 4-over, 76 in the second round and freshman Alex Koch was 5-over with her 77. Whitney McAteer, with an uncharacteristic plus-10 (82), is 17-over for the tournament and Arizona Chin is plus-25 after her 84 on Monday.

Tarleton State retained its lead over the rest of the field by carding a 299 and has a two-round score of 590, which is eight strokes better than CSU-Monterey Bay. Grand Canyon and Central Oklahoma are tied for third at 599 and St. Edward’s rounds out the top five at 601.



NSU men struggle at regional

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Casey Nelson and Jacob Bartel carded 2-over-par, 73s on Monday as Northeastern State opened the 2012 NCAA Division II Midwest/South Central golf super regional with a 307 at Jefferson City Country Club.

The RiverHawks are in 17th place in the 20-team field with 36 holes remaining. Brad Hager (78), Matt Vineer (79) and Kyle Fouts (81) rounded out the NSU scoring.

Central Missouri, behind Jared King’s 4-under 68, leads the event at 286. Rounding out the top five are Northern Kentucky (292), and Bellarmine, Grand Valley State and Indianapolis all tied for 3rd at 296.

King and Grand Valley’s Travis Shooks are tied for the individual lead heading into Tuesday’s second round. A total of 11 golfers shot even par or better on the opening 18 holes.