CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Stephen Campbell Jr. broke a first-round tie for second and broke away from the field a bit after the second round of the AJGA Coca-Cola Championship at Sugarloaf Golf Club on Wednesday.
The Texas native enters Thursday round ahead of a pair of Maine natives — Camden’s Cole Anderson (the defending champ) and Topsham’s Caleb Manuel (the first-round leader). Campbell shot a second-round 2-under 70 and currently holds the lead at 3-under for the tournament. Anderson, who also shot a 70, is four shots back at 1-over. Manuel shot a 76, after carding an open-round 70, and is tied for third with Neal Shipley, of Pittsburgh, Penn., at 2-over.
Blake Benson, who was tied with Campbell after the first round, struggled in his second round and is now tied for 20th at 9-over. Scarborough’s Anthony Burnham is one shot back and tied for 24th.
The story of the second day was similar on the girls’ side: The first-round leader struggled and second place took over first. Kristine Tran, of California, followed up her first-round 70 with a 74 on Wednesday, good enough to take over the lead from Ontario’s Haley Yerxa, who shot an 82 and is seven shots back.
Tran heads into the final round at even-par 144, one shot ahead of YanJun (Victoria) Liu, of Vancouver, British Columbia by way of China.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
