As Nate McCoy was waiting in the clubhouse, he wasn’t giddy with excitement, but calm and collected.

Instead of nervously waiting, listening and watching the scores, McCoy just talked with coaches Andrew Tank and Patrick Datz and fellow teammates about the round.

This may come as a shock to those who have never been in the position to win a NCAA Collegiate golf tournament, let alone play golf at a higher level than for fun, but McCoy readies himself for that kind of environment.

After the first day, McCoy was tied for the lead with East Carolina’s Harold Varner with rounds of 69 and 68.

“I really haven’t been in that lead position for a while,” McCoy said, “but I have been in positions with a lot of pressure this summer with the amateur events.”

On his last round McCoy started on hole No. 8, and he was two over par after his first nine holes.

He knew though, that it wasn’t the time to start panicking or becoming impatient.

“Really it was just staying patient, and waiting for that right moment,” McCoy said. “I started on the hardest set of holes on the course, and once I got through those I knew it was time to start being more aggressive.”

On those last five holes McCoy strung together a nice streak of shots to birdie three of his last five holes.

It wasn’t that he started playing shots differently or changed anything, but more so sticking to what coaches Tank and Datz had been preaching in practice.

“The coaches have told us to stop thinking about the hole as a whole,” McCoy said, “and to focus on each shot, be patient and take them one at a time.”

Going through the last nine holes McCoy focused on hitting quality shots, and keeping his composure.

Sitting in that clubhouse, McCoy handled himself professionally. He wasn’t worried about winning the meet, but rather he was focused on how he played on a personal level.

“I expect myself to perform well,” McCoy said, “and I just wanted to do everything that I could, so winning was obviously a bonus.”

Tank was impressed with McCoy’s work this week after having one of the worst performances of his career at the Wolf Run Invitational.

“I’m really pleased with how McCoy handled this week,” Tank said. “He put in a lot of work in at practice, and it obviously paid off.”

Another good sign of things to come for the Cyclones was Michael Wuertz. He carded a 69 on the last round, to move him up into a tie for 10th.

“I’m really confident in our team’s ability,” Tank said. “In our first two meets we’ve had three guys finish in the top 10, so I think once we can put together some rounds we’ll be a team to look out for.”