Coach seeks first Big Ten Championship

Coming off a season in which he won his first Big Ten Coach of the Year award, IU men's golf coach Mike Mayer is now ready to earn another personal first: a Big Ten championship.\nLast season, Mayer led an underclassman-dominated team into the school's third straight NCAA Tournament berth, picking up two tournament victories on the way. He was able to get his players to overcome their inexperience and unveil their talents, and for this feat, he was awarded coach of the year honors in both the Big Ten Conference and the Midwest region. Mayer, however, insists the credit shouldn't go to him.\n"The rewards are reflective of what this team has done, really, and not what I have done," he said. "I have to give the team all the credit."\nIf the credit for Mayer's awards is going back to the players, a large chunk of it must go to sophomore Jorge Campillo. The Caceres, Spain, native accumulated the lowest season average for a freshman in school history on his way to earning the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award. Campillo's 72.72 average ranks eighth all-time in school history and easily beat the averages of IU alums and current PGA golfers Jeff Overton -- who previously held the record -- and Shaun Micheel, who defeated Tiger Woods in match play Sept. 14. Campillo's award marks only the second in the school's history following Jody Roudebush, who won it in 1991. \nDespite his freshman-year success, Campillo said he is still seeking improvement.\n"I was pretty happy to get (the freshman of the year award)," he said, "and I'll try to get Big Ten Player of the Year this year."\nMayer might not need Campillo to win player of the year to be able to win his first Big Ten Championship. The Hoosiers are returning nearly every player from last year's lineup, including all five members of last year's highly acclaimed freshman class. Sophomore Seth Brandon said he expects great things from the team again this year.\n"Any time anyone on your team is winning awards, obviously that means good things are happening," he said. "I think this program is headed in the right direction ... Hopefully we'll see multiple awards on this team this year." \nThe Hoosiers turned their season around in the spring, competing for the title in nearly every tournament in which they played en route to reaching the NCAA Regionals. While IU looks to extend its stay in the NCAA Tournament this year, Mayer is more focused on taking care of business within the conference.\n"Obviously we want to qualify for NCAA (Tournament)," he said. "Obviously we want to take it a step further and make it the NCAA Finals, and no question as always, our top priority is to win the Big Ten Championship"