IU finishes last at tourney despite junior's heroics

Last week, head coach Mike Mayer made the decision to put junior Mike Miller into the team's top slot. The move paid dividends this weekend as Miller shattered his three-round tournament record by six shots after putting together a three-over par total of 219, finishing in 25th place at this weekend's Badger Intercollegiate in Madison, Wis. Unfortunately, Miller's heroics were not enough to save the Hoosiers, who finished the tournament in the 15th and final position.\n"One thing we look for in the first tournament is for people to step up, and Mike stepped up for us big time this weekend," said Mayer.\nFor the team, the struggles began immediately. During the first round Saturday, the Hoosiers posted a staggering score of 307, which put them 27 strokes behind leaders Arkansas-Little Rock and Toledo. \n"Our first round on Saturday was horrible," stated Mayer. "We shot ourselves in the foot right out of the gate."\nThough the team came out of the gates rather slow as a whole, Miller was able to provide a glimmer of hope by tying his career low score with a 1-under par 71.\n"I just kept it (the ball) in play and played pretty smart," Miller said.\nMatters improved for the team in the afternoon round Saturday, as they lowered their score by 15 strokes to 282. Junior Aldo Jordan and freshman Jeff Overton both posted even-par scores of 72. Miller shot 74 to end the day at one-over-par.\nSoggy course conditions conspired to undermine the team's effort Sunday. Miller and Overton led the way, each shooting 74. The team finished the day with a score of 301, which put them at 900 overall and one stroke behind Iowa. Toledo was victorious with a tournament total of 853.\nOverton does not blame the weather for the Hoosiers performance. "We just didn't show up to play," he concluded.\nMayer hopes to turn the results of this weekend into positive fodder for the future.\n"It's important for us to take the last couple of rounds and turn those into a positive for next weekend," he said.\nNext week, the Hoosiers will travel to Iowa to play in the Northern Intercollegiate, which is considered to be a fall preview of the Big Ten Tournament.