The schedule isn’t getting any easier for the ISU men’s golf team this weekend.

Up next is the Xavier Invitational held in Orlando, Fla., on March 10 and 11. The team, however, is no stranger to playing the best teams in the country, and they welcome the challenge.

“We have a high potential this year, we just have to find our groove. Right now we just have to worry about one tournament at a time,” said junior Cedric Bertin.

After two consecutive seventh-place finishes this spring, Bertin is especially anxious to get things going in the right direction. He and his teammates aim to duplicate the victories they tallied the previous fall.

“We are far from a glorious moment this spring,” Bertin said. “We still haven’t managed to knock of the rust, but we need to stay positive because it is only the beginning of a very long season.”

With a healthy crop of returning players and new recruits, the future looks bright for the Cyclones. But for senior Rodney Hamblin, the time is now. Hamblin followed a mediocre showing in the GADO North Texas Classic with a team-best 13th-place finish in the All-American Intercollegiate Invitational Tournament.

“Our goal is to win now, it always is,” Hamblin said. “We haven’t posted low team scores, but they are coming.”

Hamblin is trying to eliminate early mistakes to give him a chance to not only finish well, but to win a tournament.

“I expect this Spring Break trip [to the Xavier Invitational] to be a great one. This will build momentum for us in preparation for the final stretch this spring,” Hamblin said.

The ISU women’s team looks to do the same when they set out for the Texas A&M “Mo”Morial tournament in College Station, Texas, on March 9 to 11. The team fought hard in the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, but finished 13th out of a possible 16 teams.

“Every team in the field was ranked higher than us, but we feel like we can compete with any team we play. We want these prestigious tournaments, they only make us better,” junior Karly Pinder said.

If top-tier teams are what they want, they will be ecstatic this tournament. Out of the 14 teams in the event, five of the teams are ranked in the top 25.

Coach Christie Martens worked hard on scheduling the best possible tournaments for Iowa State. Martens believes the team is ready for the upper-echelon competition, and the only way to get to the top is to play the best teams in the best tournaments.

“I really like the tough scheduling,” Pinder said. “Coach [Martens] has done a great job of getting us in highly respected tournaments. By the time the Big 12 Championships come at the end of the year, we won’t be surprised or intimidated. We belong with the best, and once we all come together, the results will back that up.”