GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- It was all about going low Monday in the opening two rounds of the Western New Mexico Mustang Intercollegiate at Palm Valley Golf Club.
 
Fifteen of the 23 teams in the field posted numbers in the red through 36 holes as the field posted 26 under-par team totals on opening day.
 
Midwestern State owned two of those scores posting a 283 and 282 for an 11-under total of 565 to tie for sixth heading into Tuesday's final round.
 
The total matched the third lowest 36-hole team total in program history just behind 16-under totals set at the 2009 Lone Star Conference Championship, then matched at the 2017 NCAA Division II West/South Central Super Regional. MSU Texas also posted an 11-under 565 in the 2012 Texas A&M-Commerce Lion Fall Invitational.
 
Colorado School of Mines tops the team leader board carding team totals of 276 and 279 for a 21-under 555. The Orediggers are trailed by Chico State (557/-19), Dixie State (561/-15), Western Washington (561/-15) and UC-Colorado Springs (563/-13) to round out the first five.
 
MSU Texas, which accounted for 38 total birdies, was paced by senior Chance Craig and sophomore Jake Doggett. The duo tied for 16th with matching scores of 71 and 69 for a 4-under 140.
 
Freshman Kolton Baber also notched two scores in the red at 71 and 70 for a 3-under total of 141 to tie for 24th, while freshman Garrett Leek scored a 70 and 76 for a 2-over total of 146 to tie for 57th.
 
Senior Clayton Meyers logged scores of 75 and 74 for a 5-over total of 149 to tie for 86th.
 
Western Washington sophomore Ethan Casto blistered the course for a 12-under 132 carding scores of 65 and 67 to lead by a single stroke over Chico State's Josh McCollum (68-65 133/-11).
 
Midwestern State begins the final round with a tee time of 9:47 a.m. (Central Time) at the first hole.
 
  

WNMU Mustang Intercollegiate
Palm Valley Golf Club Goodyear, Ariz. Par 72, 7,015 yards
Team Leaderboard
Place	Team	Round Scores	Total	To Par
1	Colorado School of Mines	276-279	555	-21
2	Chico State (Calif.)	278-279	557	-19
3	Western Washington	281-280	561	-15
	Dixie State (Utah)	281-280	561	-15
5	UC-Colorado Springs	283-280	563	-13
6	Midwestern State	283-282	565	-11
	Colorado Mesa	282-283	565	-11
	Western New Mexico	279-286	565	-11
9	Academy of Art (Calif.)	284-283	567	-9
10	Northeastern State (Okla.)	286-283	569	-7
	Colorado Christian	290-279	569	-7
12	California State, East Bay	285-285	570	-6
13	Colorado State-Pueblo	281-291	572	-4
	Ottawa (Ariz.)	282-290	572	-4
15	Saint Martin's (Wash.)	283-291	574	-2
16	Stanislaus State (Calif.)	296-282	578	+2
17	Holy Names (Calif.)	297-290	587	+11
18	Fort Lewis (Colo.)	297-292	589	+13
19	Westminster (Utah)	303-287	590	+14
20	UT Permian Basin	302-292	594	+18
21	Montana State-Billings	302-295	597	+21
	Regis (Colo.)	302-295	597	+21
23	Northwest Nazarene (Wash.)	301-303	604	+28
Individual Leaderboard
Place	Player, Team	Round Scores	Total	To Par
1	Ethan Casto, Western Washington	65-67	132	-12
2	Josh McCollum, Chico State	68-65	133	-11
3	Preston Smith, Colorado Mines	67-67	134	-10
	Matthew Watkins, Academy of Art	67-67	134	-10
5	Jack Duguid, UC-Colorado Springs	68-67	135	-9
	Clay McCory, UC-Colorado Springs	67-68	135	-9
	Jonathan Mulvany, Cal State-East Bay	67-68	135	-9
8	Pedro De La Vega, Western New Mexico	66-71	137	-7
9	George Markham, Colorado Mines	69-69	138	-6
	Carlos Gomez, Northeastern State	71-67	138	-6
Midwestern State Scorecard
6t	Midwestern State	283-282	565	+11
16t	Jake Doggett (1)	71-69	140	-4
16t	Chance Craig (3)	71-69	140	-4
24t	Kolton Baber (5)	71-70	141	-3
57t	Garrett Leek (2)	70-76	146	+2
86t	Clayton Meyers (4)	75-74	149	+5
*** - playing as an individual medalist only.