URBANA – Illinois is in second place after shooting an opening-round 309 Saturday at the Fighting Illini Invitational at Stone Creek Golf Club. Conditions were tough on players throughout the day with a mix of sub-30-degree wind chills and off-and-on precipitation.

"The weather was as mean and as difficult as I've seen in a long, long time on the golf course," Illinois coach Mike Small said.

The Illini were led by Matt Hoffman and Jon Krick, who both carded 3-over 75s. The teammates are tied for second.

"We could have played better, but in these conditions and in this weather, it is kind of hard to be predictable," Small said. "Matt and Jonathan had solid rounds this morning, but who knows what is a good round on a day like today? The weather throws everything out of kilter."

The shortened tournament will conclude with nine-hole rounds today.

Illini come up short

Illinois won the doubles point for the fifth time this season but could not hold on to upset No. 29 Indiana, losing 4-3 in Bloomington, Ind. Illinois missed a chance at the upset in the final match when the Illini's Shivani Dave dropped the third set to Sigrid Fischer.

"We went toe-to-toe with a good team in the Big Ten, and the singles match at No. 4 just didn't go our way," UI coach Michelle Dasso said.

Megan Fudge won two matches for the Illini.

Relay team shines

Illinois' 1,600-meter relay team finished second in a 22-team field, improving its NCAA regional- qualifying time by two seconds at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn. Yawusa Kinda, Dan Jones, Gary Miller and Brandon Gray were timed in 3 minutes, 7.98 seconds.

Dominique Worsley was fourth in the 200, and Justin Aronson took fifth in the 5,000.