UNLV men’s golf in fourth after first round of NCAA regional

Despite having only one player break par, the UNLV men’s golf team was fourth Thursday after the first round of the 54-hole NCAA Regional at Columbus, Ohio, five shots behind leader Charlotte.

Sophomore Carl Jonson’s 3-under-par 68 led the Rebels, who got off to a slow start playing from the 10th tee at the Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course. Jonson had a wild round, carding six birdies and three bogeys. He was one shot behind Charlotte’s Raoul Menard for the individual lead.

UNLV’s other scores were a 74 by sophomore Kurt Kitayama, 75 by both senior Kevin Penner and junior Nicholas Maruri, and 76 by freshman AJ McInerney, who had two double bogeys in his first nine holes. McInerney’s score did not count against UNLV’s team total of 8-over 292.

Charlotte totaled 287, one shot ahead of South Carolina. Stanford is third at 291, followed by UNLV and Auburn (293). The top five teams from the 13-team regional advance to the NCAA Championships from May 28 to June 2 in Atlanta.

In other UNLV sports:

■ BASEBALL — Eight Air Force players had multiple hits, and the Falcons banged out 20 altogether to rout UNLV’s baseball team 13-6 in the opener of a three-game series at Air Force Academy, Colo.

Four Air Force players had three hits, including Seth Kline, who also had three RBIs.

UNLV starting pitcher Erick Fedde gave up eight hits and six runs, four earned, in three innings. Three other pitchers combined to allow 11 hits and seven runs.

The Rebels also hit the ball well, with Mark Shannon going 3-for-4 and T.J. White 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

UNLV (34-18, 16-12 Mountain West) plays Air Force (15-35, 7-21) at noon today.

■ SOFTBALL — Stefany Valentino was named to the NFCA Division I All-West Region second team. The junior outfielder hit .405 and led the Rebels in eight offensive categories. She reached base in 48 of 52 games.

■ MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING — UNLV will move to the Western Athletic Conference this fall. The Rebels had spent the past two years in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, after the sport was dropped by the Mountain West.

The WAC announced Thursday the addition of men’s swimming. The conference had dropped the sport in 2000.

The UNLV women will continue to swim in the Mountain West.

In other local sports news:

■ BOXING — Southern Nevada’s two remaining representatives in the Golden Gloves national championships in Salt Lake City were eliminated.

Jamey Swanson of Las Vegas lost by decision to California’s Kameron Jones on Wednesday in the second round of the 165-pound division. Mesquite’s Elmer Rivera also lost by decision, to Michigan’s Sardius Simmons at 201 pounds.

■ SOCCER — Las Vegas High product Herculez Gomez, who plays forward for Santos Laguna Mexico, made the 29-man roster for the U.S. World Cup qualifiers training camp.

■ INLINE HOCKEY — The American Inline Hockey League will hold its championship tournament at Las Vegas Roller Hockey Center in Commercial Center, 953 E. Sahara Ave., today through Sunday. Games start at 3 p.m. today, with the elite final scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Sunday.