Men:

Jack Pheanis is one of those coaches who believes in playing the best in order to become the best. That’s why the NIU men’s golf team is taking part in this weekend’s Big Ten-hosted Northern Intercollegiate in Ann Arbor, Mi.

The University of Michigan serves as host for the Friday-Sunday 54 hole tourney contested on UM’s Alister MacKenzie Golf Course. Twenty-four schools are expected to play on the 6,687-yard, par 71 UM course which recently underwent a multi-million dollar renovation.

In addition to all 11 Big Ten schools, the field includes solid challengers like the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville and the University of Notre Dame.

“The Northern Intercollegiate always has a great field,” Pheanis explained. “If you’re looking to gauge yourself against other top people from your region and beyond, this is the meet to be in. We’re still trying to get on top of our games, but our goal is to finish as high as possible as a team and to have someone among the top individuals as well.”

Counted on for senior leadership is Jason Samuelian, who led the Huskies a year ago with a team-best 76.7 average-per-18-hole round for 1992-93.

Women:

Cinderella went through it and so did Snow White.

Even the Little Mermaid experienced it.

Now, head coach Pam Tyska is hoping her NIU women’s golf team will have a rags-to-riches tale to tell. But you won’t find the Huskies going to Disney World.

Their magic kingdom is in Ohio.

See, the Huskies conclude the 1993 fall campaign at Friday through Sunday’s Ohio State University Lady Northern Intercollegiate in Columbus, Oh. Tyska would find it fitting if NIU could produce a top five finish in the 15-team field on the OSU Scarlet Golf Course.

The Huskies’ story already has substance – a team on the rebound from a dismal beginning. Prior to a third-place finish at its own NIU Huskie Classic, the NIU group had not placed below seventh in three previous tournaments.

Tyska hopes the confidence her linksters gained at the NIU classic can carry over. After all, there will not be a qualifying round for the Huskies.

“Usually before we go to a tournament the team has to go through a qualifying procedure to determine who makes the trip,” Tyska said. “This time the determining factor is the order of finish at our tournament. That order will be used at Ohio, so the pressure bug of qualifying is off our backs.”

Shelley Wendels, who leads NIU with an even 81 strokes-per-round average, is coming off a stellar third-place 235 performance at the NIU 54-hole tourney. Teammate Samantha Thompson finished a respectable 10th, having carded a 244.