St. Michael's is two-time defending champion, but arrives as underdog for the New Mexico Class A-AAA Boys State High School Golf Championships.

Hope Christian is championship-less, yet is favored to usurp the Horsemen over the next two days at the New Mexico State University Golf Course in Las Cruces.

"This one is going to be the hardest," Lee Sanchez, St. Michael's head coach, says.

The Huskies are 3-0 against the Horsemen. The most-recent victory was for the District 1A-AAA title a week ago.

"They have five guys all capable of shooting in the 70s," Sanchez says of the Huskies. "They are a little deeper."

The 18-hole golf course, the one the teams play today and Tuesday, could dull the Huskies' edge.

"Since the course is such a neutral site, it's a good setting for us," Sanchez says. "If we have any chance of beating them, it's going to be there."

The Horsemen captured the AAA Challenge at the NMSU golf course in late April. It was windy then. Sanchez hopes the winds return.

"For some reason, we're a little more consistent in the wind," Sanchez says. "I know Marty and Zach both like playing in the wind."

Marty Sanchez and Zach Berhost have championship pasts. Both contributed to the back-to-back team titles. Sanchez, a junior, also is reigning individual state champion.

Jay Hickey of Hope Christian and Jacob Jameson of Lovington stand between Sanchez and his goal to become the first repeat winner in his classification since Greg Robertson of New Mexico Military Institute in 1992 and '93.

"I think he's ready to defend his title, but he knows it's much more fun for the team to win than it is for him to win," Sanchez says, speaking as head coach and not as a father. "He really has been encouraging the younger guys and tries to lead them and help them with what needs to be done."

If not in front after the opening 18, the Horsemen must be within five strokes to have a chance of a threepeat. That hasn't been done in A-AAA since Ruidoso strung together three straight beginning in 1999.

"We're going to give it our best," Sanchez says. "Everyone has really worked hard and put in the effort. We're excited and anxious."