PRESTO, Pa. – The defending Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference champion Penn State Altoona men's golf team started its quest to secure a second consecutive conference title on Monday, as round one of the AMCC Championships got underway at The Club at Nevillewood.

By the conclusion of day one, the Lions held first place by an 11-shot margin after shooting 327 as a team on the par 72 course.

Mount Aloysius College was in second place with 338, Pitt-Bradford took third with 353, and Penn State Behrend was fourth with 354. Hilbert College (356), La Roche University (383), and Pitt-Greensburg (418) rounded out the rest of the conference standings after day one.

"We are happy to have the lead after round one, but our work isn't done," said Penn State Altoona head coach Tom Koehle. "We have to go out and give it our best tomorrow."

Trey Heffelfinger (Mount Union, PA/Mount Union) and Jack DiTrani (Hinsdale, IL/Benet Academy) paced Penn State Altoona's efforts on Monday, as each player shot a 6-over par 78 to tie for first place on the individual leaderboard out of 34 total golfers.

Joey Toth (South Park, PA/South Park) carded 85 to finish the round in seventh place, and Peter Nusbaum (Pittsboro, NC/Thales Academy) shot 86 to tie for eighth place. Owen Wise (Lewistown, PA/Mifflin County) tied for 20th place after shooting 92.

Penn State Altoona will look to maintain its lead tomorrow, Tuesday, October 11, in the second and final day of the AMCC Championships. Tuesday's first tee times are set for 9:00 a.m., with the Lions beginning to tee off at approximately 10:10 a.m.

Should Penn State Altoona finish tomorrow's round in first place, it would represent the men's golf program's seventh AMCC championship, including its second in a row. The title would give the Lions the conference's automatic bid to compete in the NCAA Division III Championships next May.