U-32 captured eight team championships during the past academic year and now a recent Raiders graduate is poised to bring home another crown.

Golfer Bryson Richards opened up a two-shot lead Wednesday during the second round of the 115th Vermont Amateur. The 2019 Raiders graduate fired a 3-under 68 for a two-round total of 141 strokes. He heads into Thursday’s 36-hole finale hoping to make an unforgettable year for U-32 Athletics even better.

And while the rich may get richer, there are several title drought that Richards could also snap. The last Country Club of Barre golfer to prevail at the Vermont Am was Edward A. Johnston in 1951. Richards and fellow CCB member Troy Evans (143) are the top threats to end that 70-year winless streak, while Nelson Eaton (146) and Eric Lajeunesse (151) are not far behind.

Those four golfers also helped the Country Club of Barre establish a 14-shot advantage over second-place Burlington in the McCullough Cup standings. The CCB crew haven’t claimed top honors in the four-person team event in eight years. Third-place Rutland is 34 shots off the winning pace, while fourth-place Williston is 40 shots back.

“Obviously we’re all rooting for each other, but at the same time we all want to win,” Richards said of his teammates. “I’m just super happy that we’re all playing well and I know that Barre is having a good day for the McCullough Cup. …Troy has been there before at the Am back at Dorset when he shot 64 in the final round. Nelson is getting hot and he’s been playing quite a bit of tournaments lately. So he’s getting more reps under his belt and he’s playing really well. And I’ve seen that playing with him at Barre: He’s got so much talent.”

Richards hit his drive left of the fairway on the first hole and had to punch out from the trees. He attempted to get up-and-down but missed a 6-footer and settled for a bogey.

He hit a 2-iron of the tee on the third hole and made a birdie putt to get back to even for the day. He followed with a birdie on the fourth hole before setting for bogeys on No. 6 and 7.

A driver off the par-5 ninth tee left him with a 175-yard approach shot to the green. The ball was lofted up favorably in the rough, allowing him to use a 9-iron to reach the green. Richards drained the eagle putt to salvage a front-nine 35.

Birdies on No. 12 and 14 gave Richards momentum midway through the back nine. He rebounded from a bogey on No. 17 by draining a 20-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

The University of Rhode Island golfer holds a two-shot lead over Evans and Cory Jozefiak. Troy Golber and Taylor Bellemare are tied for fourth at 144. The trio at 145 features Scott Rankings, Nathan Godbout and Phil Fairbanks.

Eaton is one shot ahead of Austin Giroux and Nicholas Wood, while Ryan Porter sits at 148. Ritchie Snow (149), Brody Yates (150) and Reuben Stone (150) are also in the hunt.

“I’m excited to be in the situation again and I feel like I’ve been here a couple times,” Richards said. “I’ve been close at Dorset and at Rutland two years ago. Hopefully I can learn from some of the mistakes I made during those rounds and put it together (Thursday). …It’s going to be a long day, especially with the weather that we have coming. So anything can happen, and every shot is going to be super important. It could be a one- or two-shot lead at the most. And on the golf course, that’s not a whole lot: It’s a birdie-bogey swing right there. It will be fun and it will be interesting. And it’s going to be a tight race, for sure.”

Evans started his second round with a bogey and a birdie before rattling off pars on eight straight holes. He birdied the second hole after hitting an iron shot onto the green and curling in a 15-footer.

The Spaulding graduate birdied the par-4 11th hole after nearly driving the green. He chipped his second shot to 3 feet above the pin and made a tricky putt for a 3. He bogeyed the 12th and finished up with six straight pars. On Tuesday he carded four birdies, three bogeys and a double.

Here are 10 questions for Evans, who played Division I golf for St. John’s University and competed at the 2015 U.S. Amateur:

TA: You had two birdies and two bogeys today, so did it seem like a steady round?

Evans: “It was pretty easy going. I had a lot of birdie looks from 15-20 feet that I didn’t convert. I just missed them and left myself with about 2 feet for par on a lot of holes and just tapped it in. So it was pretty stress-free. And I hit a lot of greens, so on most of the greens I was putting for birdie.”

TA: Going into Tuesday, what would you have said if someone asked if you’d be happy to be situated like this?

Evans: “This is my first Amateur in four years, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew I’m playing pretty well. But I haven’t been playing in a lot of tournaments, per se, so I didn’t really know where my game was competitively. But I’d say I’m pretty happy. Whenever you’re within a few shots of the lead going into any last day or last few rounds, you’re in a good spot. Obviously I would like to be leading, but I’m a pretty good chaser as well. I like my game plan and I’m just going to stick with it and hopefully make a few more putts than I did today. And then I’ll be right there in the end, so that’s all I’m looking for.”

TA: You were second in the Vermont Am at Dorset, so does it help that you’ve been close before heading into the final day?

Evans: “The one at Dorset was actually my last one, four years ago. I was behind by five strokes in the last round and I just had a gunner’s mentality and went for everything. And it worked out. I’m not that far back right now, so hopefully I don’t have to do that again. But I do know how to do it if I need to.”

TA: Going into the last day, does if feel like a pretty big pack considering that some years it’s just one or two guys out front at this point?

Evans: “Yeah, it feels like a lot of guys have a chance right now. Obviously Bryson is playing pretty well. But there’s (Cory Jozefiak) who’s 1-over with me right now. There’s a couple guys at 2-over behind me that are fully capable of shooting a good number. So I have Bryson to look at. But I also have all these other guys around me that I have to beat out as well. So it’s definitely going to be a shootout. And the tournament is only halfway done. I know it’s the last day, but it’s still 36 holes of golf left. And we’ve only played 36, so a lot can happen. So that’s why I’m just going to try to stick to the game plan: Stick to what I’ve been doing and don’t try to force anything.”

TA: With the potential for rain, is staying out of trouble going to be key?

Evans: “The rain won’t really affect me. It is what it is and everybody has to play in it, so you just have to deal with that. I’ve been playing pretty conservatively on the front nine, for sure: A lot of irons off the tee. But there’s a stretch of holes — No. 9-12 — that are very hittable. So that’s where I’m looking to make some of my birdies and be very aggressive. And then from No. 13 on, just finish steady: Pars are good and don’t try to force anything. I’m sticking to that game plan. You can obviously make a few birdies on the front nine if you play them right. But there’s a lot of holes out there that can bite you as well if you try to be too aggressive.”

TA: What would you say about the Country Club of Barre? The McCullough Cup might be the secondary goal, but it’s going pretty well.

Evans: “I’m pretty excited about it. We haven’t won it since it was at Barre in 2013. So it means the game of golf is good in my hometown and guys are playing well. And if I don’t walk away with the Am trophy, at least I’ll have that to hang my hat on.”

TA: Going into the final round with Bryson, is it sort of a friendly rivalry because you work together and you guys have played together for awhile?

Evans: “I don’t even know how many rounds we’ve played together at Barre, but it’s a lot. And we know each other’s games pretty well. I don’t know if there will be any heckling going on? But there will be a little bit of gamesmanship, for sure. It’s all in good fun. We’ll be rooting for each other at the same time as trying to beat each other.”

TA: If you had to generalize, would you say either one of you is longer off the tee or has an edge with the short game?

Evans: “I’m definitely going to say I’m longer than him off the tee, but he can get me in any other part of the game.”

TA: Even though you’re both relatively young, is it fair to say this is not your first rodeo?

Evans: “Yeah, he’s going into his junior year and he’s had some good tournaments at URI. And I’ve played some good golf in my day as well. So it will be a battle.”

TA: After you competed in tourneys like the U.S. Amateur, does it make this Vermont Am situation feel a little less stressful?

Evans: “Any golf tournament I play, there’s always going to be a little bit of butterflies in my stomach just because I want to do well so badly. I think if you don’t get nervous, something’s wrong with you — even if it’s a small-scale tournament or if it’s the U.S. Amateur. So I’ll still get nervous — I’m sure everyone gets nervous. But I think nerves are a good thing and you just have to embrace them. And at the same time, I’m not going to treat it as a life-or-death thing: Like If I don’t play well, it ruins my life. That’s not a thing with me. So it’s a balance of both. And it’s one shot at a time.”