TURLOCK, Calif. – Just one stroke behind the leader, Tyler Fitchett's five-under first day placed him within striking distance of the Medalist honor at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational.
 
COMPLETE RESULTS
 
Fitchett's day began with two bogies, but the lefty recovered quickly. On holes five, eight and nine, Fitchett carded birdies to conclude the front nine one under. On the back nine, Fitchett went one-under with another two birdies to finish the first round at two-under par 70.
 
The senior continued his hot streak in the second round, going one-over par in the front nine with two birdies. Fitchett ended the day on fire, shooting five birdies on the final nine holes, including four in a row on 14 thru 17 to wrap up three-under par 69. His total of 139 was tied for second in the leaderboard, just one stroke back of the leader.
 
Max Turnquist placed second on the team due to a strong finish in the second round, after going six over par in the opening 18, Turnquist came back with five-birdie, one-under par 71 in the second 18. His 149 placed him tied for 28th overall.
 
Ethan Finau also saw an improvement as the day went on, going from 81 to 77 in the second round for a total of 158. Dennis Geissler (78-81-159) and Jordan Terada (82-81-163) closed out the scorecard for the Saints.

"Difficult weather conditions bring out the mentally tough," said head coach Kevin Bishop. "Fitchett, all day, along with Turnquist in round two, showed why they are two of the best players in the GNAC. As a team, we are still striving to find that consistency and belief we had last season. New day tomorrow to make a move as a team."
 
As a team, the Saints made a strong run up the leaderboard in the second round, finishing 10th in the field at 605. The third and final round of the tournament is set to begin tomorrow at 8:30 AM with live stats available on smusaints.com.