SMITHVILLE, Mo. – Carl Miltun (Gilbert, AZ/Williams Field) played through the cold and windy conditions during the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Golf Championships Sunday afternoon, posting a two-under-par 70 to hold the lead in the field after the first 18 holes of play.

Miltun recorded four birdies in the first eight holes of the round and also finished the day with his fifth to overcome three bogeys along the way as he was the only player among the 55 competitors to finish the opening round under par.  He will take a three-shot lead over Missouri-St. Louis' Joel Sylven and Nick Hedberg and McKendree Thomas Tollefsen into Monday's second round.

Play was suspended after the first 18 holes due to the windy conditions, therefore the teams will play 36 holes on Monday when the weather is expected to be improved.  The average score for the 55 players in round one was a 79.6, more than seven shots over par.

The Miners are currently tied with Indianapolis for third in the team standings after shooting a 309 in round one; they are currently six shots behind second place McKendree.  UMSL has the lead after round one after posting a 295 in the first round of play.

Besides Miltun, Jeppe Thybo (Esbjerg, Denmark/Rybners Gymnasium) and Isaac To are tied for 20^th place with scores of 79, while Joe Friedel (St. Peters, MO/Fort Zumwalt South) finished the opening round with an 81 and Gustav Liljedahl (Uppsala, Sweden/Celsiusskolan) recorded an 82 in the first round.