The Millersville University men’s golf team looks to compete for a regional title this spring after showing flashes of brilliance in the fall.

The Marauders won the Wheeling Jesuit Invitational in September by two strokes and finished second among men’s teams at the PSAC tournament the following month. The team will look to add more tournament victories to their credit beginning with the Camp LeJeune Invitational on March 28.

On April 14, Millersville will defend its 2007 team title at the IUP Invitational.

The Marauders boast one of the top 1-2 combinations in the region and a solid group of players who will compete for the third through fifth spots in the lineup, says head coach Scott Vandegrift, now in his 24th year at the helm.

Corey Gast, a senior from Lancaster, will compete as the team’s No. 1 player and serve as captain. Gast won the Hal Hansen Invitational and Wheeling Jesuit Invitational in the fall and looks to carry that momentum into the spring for a strong showing at the NCAA Regional Tournament, which begins May 5.

“Corey has just steadily gotten better,” says Vandegrift about his four-year starter. “He is a listener and a doer and now, as captain, a leader. Sometimes your best player isn’t always your best leader, but Corey [can play that role.]”

Millersville has another excellent player in Darryn DeShong, a junior from Chambersburg. DeShong will play the No. 2 spot and has already been anointed as the captain of next year’s team. He averaged a shade over 75 strokes per round in the fall and consistently finished in the top 20 at tournaments.

“He’s had the capability to win tournaments since he was a sophomore,” says Vandegrift. “He just needs to learn how to win.”

Gast and DeShong will be joined by juniors Trent Coldren, Scott Oste, Luke Serbun and Paul Carpenter; and sophomores Nick Magenta and Brian Olinger.

Several players rotated in and out of the top five in the fall and Vandegrift expects a similar situation to evolve in the spring. The key for the team will be consistency, he says.

In the fall, for example, MU shot the low round of any team on the second day of the PSAC Tournament, but could not overcome its poor showing on Day 1. At the Vulcan Invitational, the Marauders shot under par as a team to record the weekend’s low round, but could not hold on during the second round and finished second.

“It shows the firepower that this team has,” he says. “If we can learn to play well both days, we will probably have a final say on who wins tournaments.”

And that includes the biggest tournaments.

“We want to be ready to win a regional,” Vandegrift says. “That’s what you play golf for.”