INDIANA, Pa. – IUP men's golf returned to familiar surroundings and took advantage of a sun-soaked day at the Indiana Country Club, opening up a 15-stroke lead in the team standings following the initial round of action at the 59th Annual Cecil C. Spadafora IUP Invitational.
 
With four rounds of par or better the Crimson Hawks are in first place with a combined team score of 281 on Monday. IUP has three players just one shot off the lead, held by Gannon's Shaunak Rama at -2 (69).
 
Gannon (296), Charleston (298) and Pitt-Johnstown (298) follow behind IUP on the team leaderboard.
 
The Crimson Hawks have four players among the top 10 overall, paced by a trio of one-under rounds of 70 by Alex Swinnerton, Guillermo Salazar and Aidan LeBlanc. Shaun Fedor posted an even-par 71, finishing the day tied for seventh overall.
 
Swinnerton was three under through his initial eight holes, finishing the round with birdies on holes two, four and seven. Salazar registered consecutive birdies to close out his opening round.
 
LeBlanc was among the most consistent players of the day, finishing his final 12 holes at a combined clip of -3. After bogeys at four and seven, LeBlanc calmly rattled off consecutive birdies at eight and nine.
 
Fedor played the back nine at one under in a solid even-par round. Cameron Gerue is tied for 27th and posted 11 pars over his round, while Jon Vinge (T38th) logged three birdies on the day.
 
John Olsen is tied for 75th after an 83 in the opening round. IUP lead the field in team scoring on par three (+1) and par four (+5) holes on the day, leading the field with 58 combined pars across the lineup.
 
Fedor was a combined -1 on par three holes, while LeBlanc went two under on par fours.
 
Team Leaderboard
1. IUP – 281 (-3)
2. Gannon – 296 (+12)
T3. Charleston (W.Va.) – 298 (+14)
T3. Pitt-Johnstown – 298 (+14)
5. West Liberty – 303 (+19)
 
Individual Leaderboard
1. Shaunak Rama (Gannon) – 69 (-2)
T2. Alex Swinnerton (IUP) – 70 (-1)
T2. Gunnar McCollins (Malone) – 70 (-1)
T2. Paul Sanchez (Charleston) – 70 (-1)
T2. Aidan LeBlanc (IUP) – 70 (-1)
T2. Guillermo Salazar (IUP) – 70 (-1)
 
IUP Scores (Indiana Country Club – Par 71)
T2. Alex Swinnerton – 70 (-1)
T2. Aidan LeBlanc – 70 (-1)
T2. Guillermo Salazar  – 70 (-1)
T7. Shaun Fedor – 71 (E)
T27. Cameron Gerue – 76 (+5)
T38. Jon Vinge (Individual) – 77 (+6)
T75. John Olsen (individual) – 83 (+12)
 
Up Next
IUP finishes its lone home event of the season with final round action on Tuesday, April 16.
 
Play will begin with a shotgun start at 10:00 a.m.
 
Follow
For coverage of the IUP men's golf program, follow the Crimson Hawks on X (Twitter) (@IUPgolf), Instagram (@IUPmgolf) and online at IUPathletics.com. 
 

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