LMU Men, Tusculum Women Lead SAC Golf Championship Following First Round

Record-Setting Froning Leads LMU Men to First-Round Lead

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. -- Lincoln Memorial University freshman Connor Froning tied a South Atlantic Conference championship record with his eight-under par 64 to lead after the first round of the 2013 Food Lion SAC Men's Golf Championship.

The three-day, 54-hole tournament is being held at the par 72, 7,054-yard Sevierville Golf Club – River Course.

Froning paced LMU to a one-under par team score of 287 to lead by 14 shots over second-place Wingate University (301) and third place Tusculum College (307). Lenoir-Rhyne University and Carson-Newman University are tied for fourth place at 309. Brevard College is sixth with 311, followed by Newberry College (314), Catawba College (316), Anderson University (320) and Mars Hill College (329).

Froning's matches the first round 64 posted by Presbyterian College's Gavin Gillespie at the 2003 championship. His 64 on Sunday also established a new 18-hole record at the River Course.

He enjoys a seven-shot lead over LMU teammate Jamie Chapman and Carson-Newman's Jonathan Kim-Moss who are tied for second with 71. Lenoir-Rhyne's John White is fourth with 72, while Kim Koivu of Brevard and Wingate's Tyler Stone are tied for fifth place with 73. The trio of Brian Denton (Wingate), Rand Wasson (LMU) and Jon Weiss (Newberry) are tied for seventh place with 74. Three players are in a three-way tie for 10th at 75, including Brandon Squier (Lenoir-Rhyne), Derek Cantrell (Tusculum) and Chandler Gruenemeier (Newberry).

The second round of the Food Lion SAC Men's Golf Championship will be start at 8:30 a.m. on Monday.

Tusculum Women Close Day One Atop Leaderboard

SERVIERVILLE, Tenn. -- First team All-South Atlantic Conference selection Jillian Corum fired a two-over 74 to guide Tusculum to a three-stroke lead over Lincoln Memorial at the Food Lion SAC Championship.

Corum was consistent throughout the day, paring 14 holes on the 5,817-yard, par-72 Highlands Course at the Sevierville Golf Club.

Sara Howard and SAC women's golfer of the year Emee Herbert took sixth and seventh, respectively, after a 78 (+6) and 79 (+7).

Tusculum was one of two teams with three individual finishers inside the top 10. The other was LMU.

The Railsplitters were led by Desta Coaker and Whitney Ball, both of whom went four-over with twin 76s to tie for third in the opening round. Brittany McCown followed with an eight-over, 80 to tie for ninth.

Coaker dropped in the lone eagle of the day for the women. It took Coaker three strokes to finish of the 432-yard, par five, third hole.

Newberry rounded out the top three with a team score of 324. The Wolves are six strokes back of LMU after a cluttered opening round. Newberry saw all-SAC second teamer Eline Askeland snatch second place on the leaderboard with a 75 (+3).

Askeland's round was bolstered by three birdies.

Carson-Newman took fourth after day one. Meridith Hawkins posted three birdies to match Askeland and finish in a tie for seventh with a 79 (+7). The Eagles shot went for a 333 as a team, nine back of the Wolves.

Wingate rounds out the top five with Johanna Neumann's 80 (+8) the best tally on the team. The Bulldogs trail Carson-Newman by seven strokes.

Catawba, Anderson, Mars Hill and Brevard round out the order of places for round one. Golfers tee off for round two at 8:30 p.m., Tuesday.