Marquette, fresh off their first win of the season at the Cardinal Intercollegiate, had difficulty finding the fourth score to round out their team score in the first day at the Xavier Invitational.

Mike Van Sickle continued his remarkable freshman campaign, firing seven under 137 through two rounds. Sophomore Ted Gray shot six-under 138 to place both in the Top 10 individually after the first day.

The rest of the squad had difficulty in matching Van Sickle and Gray's consistency.

Senior Steve Sass' 74 and senior Nathan Colson's 75 were added into Marquette's first round score: four-under, 284. Senior Joe Weber's 76 rounded out the team's second-round, two-under, 286.

Marquette is fourth overall, 13 strokes behind first place Louisville, with 18 holes to play today.

"We didn't play our best golf," Van Sickle said, "we just threw some shots away, but we are still in contention."

Earlier this week, head coach Tim Grogan called the Xavier Invitational and its strong 19-team field the team's "biggest meet of the fall season."

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 11, 2005.