SANTA BARBARA – Freshman Tomas Helgo fired rounds of 67-71 Monday and leads the UC Santa Barbara Collegiate by one shot heading into Tuesday’s final round at Sandpiper Golf Club.

Helgo, who has four top-20 finishes in his first season, is in position to earn CSUN’s first top-10 individual finish of the season. The freshman from Stvanger, Norway had six birdies in a blistering opening round of five-under 67. Helgo (-6, 138) cooled off a bit in the afternoon round, posting two more birdies on his way to a one-under round of 71.

UCSB’s Zach Smith trails Helgo by one shot heading into the final round while five other players are within four shots of the lead.

“Tomas played very well today,” said CSUN head coach Jim Bracken. “He had things under control for the better part of the day. He hit the ball well in both rounds but had a few putts lip out in the afternoon round. As a team, I would like to see a little more consistency tomorrow and carry that over into the conference championship in two weeks.”

Junior Michael Zhang is also in the top-10 after posting his low total for 36 holes this season. Zhang, currently tied for eighth, had four birdies as he opened with a one-under 71 before posting a one-over 73 in round two.

Senior Tomas Skajem had five birdies in an even-par 72 in the opening round before dropping seven shots in round two’s 79. Skajem is currently tied for 39th at seven-over 151. Paul-Louis Gachet struggled to an opening round 80 before recording four birdies in a second round 73. Gachet is tied for 43rd at nine-over 153 after 36 holes.

Sevian Frangipane, competing as an individual, also posted his low total for 36 holes this season at 164 (87-77) while Gabriel Barnes is 55th at 22-over 166 to round out the CSUN lineup.

The final round gets underway Tuesday morning at 7:40 a.m.