St. Thomas Aquinas men's golfer Chris Gentle shot eight under with nine birdies in the second round of the NCAA Division II East Regional, to jump to the top of the leaderboard. 

The senior posted a score of 64, shooting 32 on both the front and the back.  Gentle's performance gave him a one stroke lead over second place, John Clare from Le Moyne College.  Gentle opened his round with back to back birdies and then knocked in five pars and two more birdies to complete his first nine holes.  After the turn, Gentle birdied the first three holes of his back nine carding five birdies, three pars and one bogey to complete his round.

Brendan Hunter, who started the day in first place after a first round of even par, shot 74 in round two.  Hunter was one under through his first nine, with three birdies to stay on top of the leaderboard.  The junior finished two over for the round placing him tied for 5th place.  

Michale Frizalone shot 75 for his second round while Michael Miranda and Kevin Gately each carded 77.  The Spartans posted a second round team score of 290 and have a two stroke lead in front of the second place team, Southern New Hampshire.  

The Spartans will tee off on Wednesday for their final round with an 8:00 am shotgun start.  

The top five teams and the top two student-athletes not with a team from each regional (regardless of region) will advance to the finals, May 17-21, at Green Valley Ranch in Denver, Colorado as part of the 2016 Division II National Championships Festival. The finals will be hosted by Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Click here for Tuesday's results.

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