More depth was the one thing NIU men’s golf coach John Cleary wanted to improve on from last season. Throwing a pair of freshmen into the mix may just get the job done.

“I would like to go deeper,” Cleary said. “We lost Zach Jecklin, who graduated with a lot of honors. We should be OK filling Zach’s shoes and be deeper with our freshmen and sophomore Jeff Dick. That’s the key focus, is to get a little deeper.”

One of those freshmen who look to bolster the Huskies is Max Hosking. Hosking made it through the qualifier and will be a starter for the Huskies.

Cleary will also be looking to Adam Rosenthal to contribute a lot to the team, along with returning veterans in Alex Wagner, Matt Triplett, Andrew Frame and Tim Kay.

“Our guys played in a lot of tournaments over summer,” Cleary said. “That should lead into this season really well.”

Kay, a junior business major, finished ninth at the Illinois State Open and also participated in the U.S. Public Links Championship in Colorado over the summer. Kay finished last season with a stroke average of 76.6.

Though the Huskies seem set to make a good run in the Mid-American Conference, Cleary is taking nothing for granted.

Cleary said last season Kent State finished sixth in the nation but did not win the conference, adding that the Golden Flashes will return most players from their 2007-2008 campaign. Cleary also expects Miami-Ohio and defending conference champions Eastern Michigan to provide stiff competition.

“It’s a tough conference,” Cleary said. “It’s hard to say where we’ll end up, but that’s why we play.”

Monday will be the start of the NIU season at the Nebraska Fairway Club Invitational, which runs through Tuesday.

“It’s a good tournament,” Cleary said. “We’ll see a couple of Big 12 schools in Kansas and Nebraska. It’ll be a good place to start.”

Other Fall tournaments for the Huskies include trips to the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational in Muncie, Ind., and the Oral Roberts University Invitational in Tulsa, Okla.

“We see a lot of Big Ten and Big 12 schools,” Cleary said. “We have a pretty good schedule. We’ll have our hands full.”

Cleary also noted the team’s desire to being playing again.

“We’re anxious to get going. We’ve been competing against each other for a few weeks and we’re ready to go and see another golf course,” he said.