Although they have faced improbable odds, the Simpson men’s golf team has already made a case for themselves as IIAC conference contenders.

Since last season, the team has lost three seniors, including Trent Lindenman, who finished third at the IIAC conference meet last spring, and head coach Jason Marvelli, who has been replaced by former Central standout Justin Livingston.

The team has only three golfers returning to the program. There are six first-year athletes on the team, including Andrew Lallier who finished second in the first meet of the fall season on Sept. 8 at Loras.

In the first meet of the season, Simpson had three, top eight performances: Lallier placed second overall (74), Korbin Sesker tied for third overall(75), and Nick Hartman tied for eighth overall(79).

“The Loras meet was a good way to gauge how the first-year guys will step up and perform at a collegiate level,” Livingston said. “Obviously some guys did better than others, but this season is going to be about improvement, especially in the short game.”

After a standout performance in the first meet of the fall season, Lallier will be looked upon to contribute at a high level, despite his lack of collegiate experience.

“He has a ton of potential and because he already proved he is ready to perform at a high level, he will be counted on to step up in future meets,” Livingston said.

Sesker and Hartman are the only juniors on the team, and they show the most leadership skills. Livingston has named them both captains of the team.

Because the sport is broken into fall and spring seasons, the latter being more competitive, Livingston plans on getting younger guys more rounds in at one-day tournaments to help improve their skills and give the entire team more experience dealing with the pressures of collegiate golf.

“Last year, the team was able to finish third in the conference meet,” Livingston said. “My hope is that we are able to be in contention for the IIAC conference title. Our team is very young, but based on what I’ve seen at practice and this first meet, I can see us being right in the middle of the pack for the conference and maybe even qualifying for nationals in the spring.”