WHEELING, W. Va. -- Powered by a trifecta of top-ten scoring performances for this season, Christopher Newport men's golf tied the program record for scoring in an NCAA Championship by signing for a 289 on Wednesday. The nine-over performance was more than enough for the Captains to make the cut and advance to the final two rounds at the Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia over the next two days. 

Playing in the 40th championship round in program history, the Captains' 289 matches the record set in 2012 for the fewest strokes by a CNU team in an NCAA Tournament round all-time. In relation to par, it stands as the third best championship performance in program history, finishing at nine-over in the second round. It is the eighth time overall and the first since 2012 that CNU made the cut as a team. 

The 289 was also tied for the sixth lowest round of the week at the 2021 NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championships. Seventy total team rounds were recorded on the two courses over the first two days with CNU's second round checking in at sixth best. Overall, CNU moved up to a tie for eighth on the team leaderboard with a +32 score in relation to par. Illinois Wesleyan holds the 36-hole lead at 12-over par.

Leading the way was sophomore Alex Price, who started the day off strong with birdies on each of his first two holes. He finished the day with an even par 70 to reinsert himself into contention on the individual leaderboard, currently tied for 10th at +4. Price is locked in a five-player tie for a spot in the top-ten, sitting eight strokes back of Methodist's Andre Chi (-4) for the lead. 

Price was reliably steady on Wednesday after his hot start, recording just three bogeys in the round with three birdies. He logged 12 pars and has dropped in more pars through the first two rounds than all but two players in the 191-player field, with 25.  

While Price remained consistent, fellow sophomore Robb Kinder made a Herculean leap up the leaderboard into a spot in the top-25. He shaved six strokes off his opening round score to move up 42 spots in the individual standings with a 36-hole 148 (77-71). Kinder had three birdies on the front and added another on the back to help lead to his career-low 71. 

Senior Kevin Quinto also caught fire early, sinking three birdies in his first seven holes. He matched Kinder for a team-high with four birdies in the round and signed for his second best effort of the year with a three-over 73. 

Rookie Aidan Baron rounded out the scoring in the second round with a five-over 75. He sits tied for 47th with a 151 (76-75) through the first two days after a strong front nine anchored his overall showing. Baron joined his three teammates with a birdie on the 500-yard Par 5 second hole and he added six straight pars to finish the front one-over par. 

Carrter Morris also had a pair of birdies to make sure all five Captains recorded two or more under-par holes on the day.

After the field was split on the first two days between a pair of courses, the third and fourth rounds will be played on the Speidel Jones Course. CNU scored a 307 on the Par 71 Jones Course during the opening round.

Live scoring of the event will continue on Golfstat.com; a link to the live stats can be found by clicking here or through the men's golf schedule at CNUsports.com.