PAYSON, Ariz.— Paxton Maxwell carded an even-par 72 to lead the Utah Valley men's golf team in the opening round of the WAC Championship on Friday at the Golf Club at Chaparral Pines. Maxwell's round puts him in a tie for third place on the individual leaderboard.

"Paxton played a really solid round today and kept us in the mix," said Utah Valley head coach Chris Curran. "We're going to need a complete team effort the next two days. The course is challenging, but if we stay patient and stick to our game plan, we'll have a chance to move up the leaderboard."

As a team, Utah Valley is in a three-way tie for seventh place at 16-over-par 304. Seattle U leads the nine-team field at 2-over-par 290, followed by Grand Canyon (+5), Tarleton State (+9), UT Arlington (+12), California Baptist (+12), Utah Tech (+14), and then Southern Utah (+16), Utah Valley (+16), and Abilene Christian (+16).

Maxwell's steady round included three birdies and 12 pars. He was flawless on the back nine, carding two birdies and seven pars to finish at even par. Maxwell is tied with four others for third on the 45-player leaderboard.

Dane Huddleston and Ethan Efford each posted a 3-over-par 75 and are tied for 18th place. Huddleston recorded three birdies, including two on the back nine, while Efford tallied four birdies, three of which came on the back nine.

Ryan Seamons and Clement Lepine rounded out UVU's scoring, each shooting a 10-over-par 82 to tie for 42nd.

Second-round action at the WAC Championship continues Saturday at Chaparral Pines. Live scoring will be available at GolfStat.com.