The Blue Raiders shot a 21-over 309 and are tied with No. 2 ranked Alabama and defending champion Stanford, as well as Texas A&M after the first round at the extremely grueling Kampen Course on the campus of Purdue University.

Middle Tennessee is 12 shots off the lead established by co-leaders USC and UCLA, which shot 297, heading into Thursday's second round and despite its opening success first-year Head Coach Whit Turnbow wasn't exactly ecstatic after what he believed could have been an even better opening round.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed," Turnbow said. "I know it's the National Championship and the course is hard but we are better than what we showed today. I had a couple guys that were not very tough today and let the course get to them. That's not us and it's not the way we do things. We have to get more out of the bottom of the lineup. We can't count anything starting with an 8.We will get it corrected and be ready to go (Thursday)."

Middle Tennessee is in strong position due in large part to a sterling round from junior Rick Cochran, and strong showings from sophomore Kent Bulle and freshman Jason Millard, who showed the poise and resilience of a grizzled veteran.

Cochran shot 3-over 75 in the opening round and is tied for 23rd, while Bulle and Millard each shot 5-over 77 and are tied for 53rd. Junior Chas Narramore did not have one of his better rounds and was 8-over 80, his highest score since the final round of the Sun Belt Championships as a freshman. Senior Nick Bailes was 14-over 86.

Despite it all, Middle Tennessee finds itself in contention to not only make the 15-team cut and play in Saturday's final round, but also contend for its first team national championship in any sport at the Division I level.

"We shot 21-over and that's not bad on this course, which is the hardest I have ever played," said Cochran, who played 15 holes at par or better. "We are not too many strokes out of the lead. You think about the lead but you also have that 15 spot in your head. We did our part today but we have to work on a few things and hope we can get off to a good start like we did today."

Cochran helped get the Blue Raiders off to a good start Wednesday. He birdied two holes, shot par on 13, and had just two bogeys on the daring Kampen Course. His only slip-up was a triple bogey on the par-3 13.

"Rick has been playing well all spring and he is one swing away, today, from shooting par," Turnbow said. "I expect that of Rick, though. He is a good player and he should play well in this atmosphere."

Those expectations may not be the same for a freshman, but Millard played like anything but a rookie on collegiate golf's greatest stage. The Murfreesboro native doubled his opening hole and was 4-over through five holes. He played the rest of the monster that is the Kampen Course at 1-over - quite a feat for any player but a first-rate performance considering he has played 11 college tournaments entering the National Championships.

"I kept it in the fairway pretty much today and that was key," Millard said. "There is nothing easy out here. I think we are in good shape. We have no pressure on us. It's the last tournament of the year and we just have to go out there and have fun playing in the National Championship."

Bulle was equally impressive as he played the course at 5-over on the strength of one birdie and 12 pars as he continued his breakout sophomore season.

"I'm proud of Jason and Kent," Turnbow said. "Jason hung in there and put up a good score for us that we needed. He showed a lot of heart and guts, and I'm proud of Kent because he also battled and put together a good round. They both did really well today on a difficult course."

As difficult as the course is, Middle Tennessee managed its total game well with six birdies, 52 pars and 25 bogeys, which on this Pete Dye-designed course, is an accomplishment. Seven of the bogeys did not count in the team score.

Middle Tennessee will tee off beginning at 12:47 (Central) with playing partners Texas and Virginia.

NCAA National Championships
Kampen Course, Par-72
West Lafayette, Ind.
First Round Team Scores
T1 USC 297 +9
T1 UCLA 297 +9
3 Oklahoma State 298 +10
T4 Clemson 301 +13
T4 Kent State 301 +13
T6 Illinois 302 +14
T6 Florida 302 +14
8 Georgia 303 +15
9 Washington 305 +17
T10 Auburn 306 +18
T10 Charlotte 306 +18
T12 Middle Tennessee 309 +21
T12 Stanford 309 +21
T12 Texas A&M 309 +21
T12 Alabama 309 +21
16 San Diego State +22
T17 Arizona State 311 +23
T17 Louisville 311 +23
T17 Texas 311 +23
T17 UAB 311 +23
21 Virginia 312 +24
T22 Indiana 313 +25
T22 East Tennessee 313 +25
24 Wake Forest 314 +26
T25 Penn State 315 +27
27 UC-Irvine 320 +32
T28 Mississippi State 326 +38
T28 Augusta State 326 +38
30 St. Mary's (CA) 333 +45

T12 MT Team Scores (309)
T23 Rick Cochran 36-39 75 +3
T53 Jason Millard 39-38 77 +5
T53 Kent Bulle 39-38 77 +5
T100 Chas Narramore 41-39 80 +8
T148 Nick Bailes 41-45 86 +14

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