AMARILLO, Texas— Colorado Mesa University sophomore Leo Lavalle fired a 6-under par 65 in the first round, equal to the best of his career, and is just one shot behind the individual leader through 12 holes of the second round at the Ryan Palmer Foundation Invitational, which got underway on Monday here at the Amarillo Country Club.
 
Led by Lavalle's bogey-free round and Dylan Everett's 3-under par 68, the Mavericks posted a team score of 280 (-4) in the opening round to stand fourth in the overall standings before slipping back slightly to seventh during the second round, which was suspended due to darkness after a more than two hour weather delay halted play earlier in the day.
 
The 16 teams and 89 players will resume the second round and roll right into the third and final round on Tuesday morning, beginning at 8:30 a.m. CST (7:30 a.m. Mountain), which will be the Mavs' final day of the fall season.
 
Lavalle made six birdies throughout his opening round and is at even par through his second round and sits just one shot and in a tie for second place, behind Odessa Junior College's Ken Gao in the overnight standings.  Lavalle and UT Tyler's Preston DeSerrano were tied for the lead through 18 holes before Gao has played the second round in 3-under par thus far to take the lead.
 
Everett was tied for sixth after his opening round and is currently in a tie for 17^th place at 1-under par for the tournament.  Like Lavalle, he made six birdies in the opening round but got off to a +3 start on his first two holes of the second round.  Everett did later make two birdies to get back under par for the overall day.
 
Meanwhile, Timmy Cavarno carded a 1-over par 72 in the opening round but has made two birdies through 12 holes of the second to move up 15 places into a 26^th place tie of the overnight standings.
 
Henry Starr and Luke Wagstaff both posted +4 75's in the opening round but have gone opposite directions in the second.  Starr has made two birdies and just one bogey in his second round and has moved up 13 places to a 52^nd place tie in the overnight standings at +3 overall.
 
Wagstaff is at +6 heading into Wednesday's action and is tied for 72^nd.
 
The Mavs' team score of 280 in the opening round had them within just six shots of Odessa, which took second at last year's National Junior College Athletic Association National Championships, and within four of tournament host West Texas A&M for second place.
 
The Mavs are at even par through the second round thus far but still very much within striking range, sitting just ten shots behind Odessa and within six of West Texas A&M heading into Tuesday.