WINONA, Minn. — After a freshman season in which Andrea Hanke (Janesville, Wis.) had the luxury of playing the shadow of then-senior and team leader Kris Klimmek, Hanke found herself thrust into the spotlight as Saint Mary’s University’s top female golfer last season.

And the brighter the lights, the better Hanke played.

In fact, on the year’s biggest stage — the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships — Hanke was at her brightest, carding rounds of 82-85—167 to finish tied for fourth and become just the second SMU player ever to be named to the All-MIAC team.

“Andrea showed signs of what she was capable of as a freshman, but she wasn’t as consistent as she needed to be,” said SMU women’s golf coach Dan Messmann. “I think playing behind Kris during her freshman year helped take a little bit of the pressure off. But the real difference was, (Andrea) was much more consistent last year.

“When she’s at her best, like she was for the majority of last season, Andrea proved that she can play with the best golfers in the MIAC.”

Now the question is, can she duplicate that feat this year?

“I don’t see why not,” answered Messmann, quickly adding that Hanke should be considered among the handful of favorites to win MIAC medalist honors at this year’s conference tournament. “It’s a challenge that Andrea is looking forward to — going out and proving that last year wasn’t a fluke. She’s played a lot of golf over the summer, and I think she’ll come in and pick up right where she left off.”

With the graduation of just one player, Messmann is hoping the rest of the Cardinals will follow suit — picking up where they left off a year ago, when they placed sixth at the year-end MIAC Championships.

“We should be a deeper team than we have been in the past,” said Messmann, who returns eight letterwinners from last year’s team. “Whether that translates into a higher finish (at the conference tournament) is hard to tell. The MIAC has continued to get stronger and stronger — Augsburg, Carleton, St. Thomas, Gustavus, St. Ben’s … they are all improved and tougher than ever. If we are going to continue to move up (the conference ladder), we are going to need everyone to play good, solid, consistent golf.”

UNLIKE MESSMANN, SMU MEN’S COACH Tom Farren doesn’t have the luxury of returning an all-conference performer like Hanke.

In fact, just the opposite.

For the first time in four years, Farren is without a bonafide all-conference-caliber player.

Gone are graduated seniors Eric Thom, who was the Cardinals’ leading golfer for the past four years, and D.J. Schweitzer.

“Losing Eric and D.J. really hurts,” said Farren. “They were the two best leaders I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with, and their presence is going to be greatly missed this season — on the course and off.”

Which means senior Mark Miller (Winona, Minn.), junior Curtis Nosal (Omaha, Neb.) and sophomore Scott Savage (Mahtomedi, Minn.) will have their work cut out for them as the team’s lone returning veterans.

“You can’t just go out and replace someone like Eric Thom or D.J.,” said Farren, noting that Thom not only averaged a team-low 77.2 stroke average last year, but was also the three-time medalist of the Carleton Invitational. “But you also know that losing people to graduation is inevitable and we are going to need some of our other veterans to step up and do what they can to fill those holes.

“We’ve got a good nucleus to build from,” continued Farren, whose team placed sixth at last year’s conference championships. “Hopefully a couple of our incoming freshmen will be able to pick up some of the slack — we’ll just have to wait and see.”