FRESNO, Calif. – In a race against darkness after a 60-minute frost delay to start the day, Fresno State's Harriet Lynch got her final two of Monday's 36 holes in and is tied atop the leaderboard at the Fresno State Classic at 2-under par. The senior has the Bulldogs two shots off the team lead at San Joaquin Country Club.
Toward the top of the leaderboard much of the day, Lynch briefly moved into first following back-to-back birdies on No. 17 and 18 in the opening round. Closing her round at No. 1, the Bulldog took a double bogey to slip back. Still in third after a bogey at No. 10 in the second, the Essex, England native pulled a stroke back two holes later.
Like she did in the first round, Lynch capitalized on the par-5 18th hole with her second birdie of the round to move to 2-under. With a par at No. 1 to close the round, she put herself into a tie for first after two rounds with Emma McMyler of Xavier.
With the senior in the lead, the next three Bulldogs finished Day 1 tied for 19th at 4-over par. Katelyn Lehigh shot her fifth under-par round of the season in the first (1-under 71). Nicola Kaminski and Lory Paradis each shot a 1-over 73 in the second round. For Paradis, it was a career low round that saw four birdies with one coming on her final hole.
With Lynch and Paradis knocking in late birdies, the Bulldogs pulled to within two shots of Grand Canyon for the team lead. Fresno State shot 10-over par for the day, two better than Long Beach State and four better than Xavier.
The top four teams will be paired together in Tuesday's final round, beginning on holes 1-4. Round 3 is scheduled to tee off at 8:30 a.m. PT.
Fresno State Scoring
T1. Harriet Lynch -2 (71-71)
T19. Nicola Kaminski +4 (75-73)
T19. Katelyn Lehigh +4 (71-77)
T19. Lory Paradis +4 (75-73)
76. Katelyn Harris +16 (80-80)
27. Jinyoung Yun +6 (74-76)