Feb. 22, 2001

HONOLULU - James Oh followed his first-round 68 with a five-under par 67 and two other Rebels jumped into the top 10 as the UNLV golf team climbed to third place after the second round of the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at the Leilehua Golf Course on Thursday.

Oh (68-67--135) is tied for second on the leaderboard, five shots behind New Mexico's Michael Letzig (66-64--130), who is on pace to break the 54-hole tournament record of 198 set by UNLV's Jeremy Anderson last year.

Although Oh's improved play lifted him from fifth place to second, it was the play of senior Scott Lander and freshman Travis Whisman that sparked the team's jump from sixth place to third.

Lander (71-68--139) and Whisman (72-67--139) both turned in sub-par rounds and sit in an eight-way tie for eighth place at five-under par, while the Rebels (285-275--560) carded a 13-under 275 for the day and are tied with Stanford (275-285--560) for third at 16-under for the tourney.

Behind the play of Letzig, New Mexico (282-271--553) shot a tournament-best 17-under 271 to claim the lead. At 23-under par, the Lobos hold a five-stroke advantage over Auburn (278-280--558) and a seven-stroke lead over UNLV and Stanford.

UNLV's Calvin Kupeyan (74-73--147) improved one stroke in Round 2 and rounded out the Rebels' scoring for the day with a 73. He sits tied for 49th place at three-over par.

Justin Lee (77-74--151) trimmed three strokes off his first-round total. At seven-over par, he is tied for 73rd.

Friday's final round will begin with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m.

JOHN A. BURNS INTERCOLLEGIATELeilehua Golf Course, Honolulu, HawaiiFeb. 21-23, 2001
Second Round Team Standings1.  New Mexico (282-271--553) -232.  Auburn (278-280--558) -183.  UNLV (285-275--560) -16    Stanford (275-285--560) -165.  Arizona (283-279--562) -146.  Colorado State (284-283--567) -97.  Texas-El Paso (288-282--570) -68.  Fresno State (286-286--572) -49.  Southern Methodist (286-293--579) +3    Hawaii (294-285--579) +3
Individual Leaders1.  Michael Letzig, New Mexico (66-64--130) -142.  James Oh, UNLV (68-67--135) -9    Lee Williams, Auburn (68-67--135) -94.  Alex Aragon, Stanford (66-71--137) -7    Philip Rowe, Stanford (68-69--137) -7    Dustin Smith, Fresno State (72-65--137) -77.  James Lee, Stanford (67-71--138) -68.  Scott Lander, UNLV (71-68--139) -5    Travis Whisman, UNLV (72-67--139) -5    six others tied
UNLV2.  James Oh (68-67--135) -98.  Scott Lander (71-68--139) -58.  Travis Whisman (72-67--139) -549. Calvin Kupeyan (74-73--147) +373. Justin Lee (77-74--151) +7