Returning champs hope for repeat

Still searching for its first championship of the fall season, the IU men's golf team will look to defend last fall's first place finish at the Xavier Invitational when they tee off today in Loveland, Ohio. Last fall the Hoosiers won three of four tournaments, but the two-day tournament hosted by Xavier will be the first time IU will have the role of defending champions -- a role the team is looking forward to.\n"This is our first chance to defend any of those (fall 2003 tournament championships), primarily because of such a difference in our schedule," IU coach Mike Mayer said. "I don't think there's going to be any additional pressure. I really think the team's sharper than we've been all fall. I think we're better prepared than we've been all fall, and I think we'll take that confidence and preparation into that tournament. We'll have fun with that over our heads a little bit. We'll have fun being the defending champions of that event, and hopefully, we'll bring back another trophy."\nThe Hoosiers are coming off a fifth place finish at the Adams Cup, and are eager to get back on the course after the tournament was cut short. The tournament was called during the third round because of fog, frustrating the Hoosiers who believed they were putting together a final round charge.\n"If we just could have waited about an hour, we would have been able to finish all 18 holes," junior Brad Marek said. "Just because we didn't finish a round doesn't mean that it's erased from our minds. It's still on our minds that we can do that again."\nThe Hoosiers will feature a five-man lineup of seniors Jeff Overton and Heath Peters, juniors Aaron Walters and Marek and freshman Santiago Quirarte. Junior Scott Siebert will play as an individual, meaning his score will not count toward the Hoosiers' final tally. The lineup is identical to the one that finished fifth at the Adams Cup with Overton, Peters and Walters all finishing in the Top 20. Walters, who finished 19th at the Adams Cup in just his second college tournament, is eager to help the team keep improving.\n"For me, it's just a lot of fun to get back on the course," Walters said. "We've had two weeks off between tournaments, and I've just been anxious to get out there. I'm anxious for the team to play well, because I think we're almost to the point where we'll be happy with how we're playing. Hopefully, good things will happen this week."\nXavier will play host to the two-day, 15-team tournament at Oasis Golf Club. Play begins today at 9 a.m., local time with the first two rounds. The final 18 holes will be played Tuesday.\n-- Contact staff writer Charlie Gillingham at cgilling@indiana.edu.