PUEBLO, Colo. -- Midwestern State's singular focus all season long is simple. The Mustangs desire to make history as the first team in program history to advance to the NCAA Division II Championships.

MSU took a huge stride toward the goal with an historical round Tuesday setting a program postseason low with a 13-under 271 to move into for first place.

"We've been talking about nationals all year and now we need another great round to do it," MSU coach Jeff Ray said. "The game of golf is amazing sometimes. We did a better job of managing our way around the golf course today."

Midwestern State leaned on a pair of stalwarts during the second round. Junior Garrett Leek set an individual program low with a 7-under 64, while senior Jake Doggett lit up the Back Nine to finish with a 5-under 66 to move into a tie for first place.

"They have a name for guys like Jake and Garrett," Ray said. "They call them All Americans."

Leek shot 49 places up the leaderboard and into a tie for sixth after carding a 3-over 74 in the opening round. He left nothing to question in the second circuit firing eight birdies to 8-under through 17 holes before closing with a bogey.

"Garrett doesn't let things faze him. He got focused and was ready to play today," Ray said. "Garrett was never in trouble. He had a decent look on every hole. On this course, it's important to get to the right (correct) side of the green. He did that today."

Leek made an 18-foot putt on the par-4, 393-yard second hole and was 3-under at the turn. Then he made four birdies over the next five holes as the Mustangs caught fire.

Meanwhile, Doggett continued his incredible run extending his streak to 20 consecutive rounds with par-or-better scores. He now has recorded a score in the 60s in 17 out of 36 competition rounds.

Doggett took one bad swing on the par-3, 132-yard Hole No. 6 that cost him a double bogey. He recorded with a birdie on the next hole then logged birdies on five of his first six holes on the Back Nine to finish the day with a 5-under 66.

Doggett is in position to contend for his program record sixth individual win of the season. He would become MSU's second NCAA Division II Region individual champion joining Derek Oland, who won in 2014.

Junior Jake Leatherwood didn't have his best stuff during the second round, but didn't let his score show it. He scratched his way for an eagle and two birdies to finish with a 1-under 70.

"He is such a grinder and competitor," Ray said. "He didn't play well and still gave us a quality score."

Sophomore Ethen Wolf shook off a rough start on the Front Nine, then battle is way back to an even-par 71 going bogey-free with three birdies over the his last nine holes.

Junior Mason Mikeska logged a 3-over 75 following an opening round 72 to tie for 67th with a 5-over total of 147.

"The wind is supposed to blow harder tomorrow which could challenge the ability to put the ball in good spots on the green," Ray said. "If you get on the wrong side of the hole, and you miss the putt, you are going to be 10-12 feet past it.  The greens are really fast."

Midwestern State tees off with the final group on for Wednesday's final round beginning at 1:40 p.m. (Central Time).
 

NCAA Division II West/South Central Region Championships

Team Leaderboard

Pos	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Midwestern State	-11	286	271	---	557
2	Colorado Mesa	-10	282	276	---	558
3	Colorado State-Pueblo	-7	285	276	---	561
4	St. Mary's (Texas)	-2	281	285	---	566
5	Oklahoma Christian	-1	290	277	---	567
	California State-San Marcos	-1	288	279	---	567
	Stanislaus State (Calif.)	-1	279	288	---	567
8	Colorado Christian	+3	288	283	---	571
9	Cameron	+5	292	281	---	573
	West Texas A&M	+5	289	284	---	573
11	Texas A&M-Commerce	+7	285	290	---	575
12	California State-San Bernardino	+8	293	283	---	576
13	California State-Monterey Bay	+9	286	291	---	577
14	UC Colorado Springs	+10	295	283	---	578
15	Western Washington	+11	296	283	---	579
16	Chico State (Calif.)	+12	296	284	---	580
17	California State-East Bay	+16	296	288	---	584
18	Sonoma State (Calif.)	+17	300	285	---	585
19	Simon Fraser (B.C.)	+23	296	295	---	591
20	Hawaii Pacific	+34	299	303	---	602

  

Individual Leaderboard

Pos	Player	Team	To Par	R1	R2	R3	Total
1	Jake Doggett	Midwestern State	-7	69	66	--	135
	Dakota Gillman	Colorado Mesa	-7	68	67	--	135
3	Timmy Cavarno	Colorado Mesa	-6	74	62	--	136
4	Adam Duncan	Colorado Christian	-5	68	69	--	137
	Jamie Roberts	Colorado State-Pueblo	-5	67	70	--	137
6	Garrett Leek	Midwestern State	-4	74	64	--	138
	Joey Kirk	Cameron	-4	73	65	--	138
	Jeff Nelson	Colorado State-Pueblo	-4	71	67	--	138
	Matthew Pennington	California State-San Marcos	-4	70	68	--	138
	Ryan Dixon	St. Mary's	-4	66	72	--	138

  

Midwestern State Scorecard

1	Midwestern State	-11	286	271	---	557
Place	Player	To Par	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
T1	Jake Doggett (1)	-7	69	66	--	135
T6	Garrett Leek (2)	-4	74	64	--	138
T25	Jake Leatherwood (3)	E	72	70	--	142
T38	Ethen Wolf (4)	+2	73	71	--	144
T67	Mason Mikeska (5)	+5	72	75	--	147