DeKalb | Men’s golf’s freshmen will get another chance to prove their quality this weekend.

The Huskies will compete in the Wolf Run Intercollegiate hosted by Indiana University, where they took 11th place last season.

Head coach Tom Porten likes how his four freshmen and transfer player are fitting in even after their last-place finish at the Northern Intercollegiate on Sept. 8.

“They have all blended in very well; they like each other,” Porten said. “They are already communicating in a way that the original six [2013 graduates] never really did. It has been fun to see them come together even through the adversity of our first meet. They could have hung their heads, but we talked to them about confidence and you do not judge a book by its cover, and it has been nice to see them come out of that.”

The top finisher for NIU during the Northern Intercollegiate was junior Nick Huggins (80-74-78 – 232), who looks to continue to do well in Indiana.

Junior college transfer Liam White, like Huggins, is a golfer who Porten has hoped can develop a guidance role early on this season.

“Liam has leadership qualities,” Porten said. “He has been doing a great job making sure the freshmen are doing what they are supposed to be doing both in and out of the classroom.”

Freshmen Pierrick Fillon, Jake Curwin and Braden Klaisle round out the Huskies who will compete during the team portion this

weekend.

Lone senior Shawn Foley, who will compete as an individual, has an idea for how to approach the course.

“Last year we played all right,” Foley said. “It is another tough course. You have to hit good tee shots and have to hit the ball straight. I have been working on that this week to get ready for it.”

The meet will feature 16 teams and will start on Saturday.

“We are really excited to get back into competition after a couple weeks to work on our mental and physical part of the game,” Porten said. “For so many of them it was their first college tournament. We are in a better place mentally, and we really worked hard on our scoring shots from 100 yards and in, so I like our chances to be much more competitive at Wolf Run.”