Statesmen Tied for 21st in Preseason Poll
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s golf team was consistent–consistently good–during the fall and its strong play was recognized as the NAIA’s preseason top-25 poll was released Friday.
William Penn is tied with Houston-Victoria (Texas) for 21st in the rating with 149 points. The ranking is the highest in school history, two rungs higher than its previous best of #23 which occurred twice last year.
The Statesmen competed in six events this fall and placed second all six times, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the NAIA Preview in September. At that event, the navy and gold bettered several teams that were rated or receiving votes at the time.
SCAD Savannah (Ga.) tops the preseason poll with 465 points and 14 first-place votes. Defending national runner-up British Columbia is next with one first-place vote, while 2013 national champion Oklahoma City is third with the final two first-place votes. Cumberlands (Ky.) and William Woods (Mo.) round out the top five.
William Penn is joined in the top 25 by fellow Midwest Collegiate Conference foe Mount Mercy at #25, while Grand View is unofficially 33rd.
“The raters are really starting to give our conference respect, which is very encouraging to see,” Head Coach Nik Rule said. “Two teams in the top 25 is somewhat of a first for golf in the MCC and it just shows how competitive it is going to be in the spring.”
“We had good results this fall, having some success against some tough competition,” Rule added. “By no means are we satisfied, though, as we feel we left a lot of shots out on the course at each event. I think we definitely ended the fall with a chip on our shoulder. We have enough talent to be a top-15 team and our ladies want to prove it.”
NAIA Women’s Golf Preseason Rating – November 8, 2013
(Number in parentheses is first-place votes)
1. SCAD Savannah (Ga.) (14)
2. British Columbia (1)
3. Oklahoma City (2)
4. Cumberlands (Ky.)
5. William Woods (Mo.)
6. Cal State-San Marcos
7. Northwood (Fla.)
8. Coastal Georgia
9. Bellevue (Neb.)
10. Rocky Mountain (Mont.)
11. Victoria (B.C.)
12. Bethel (Ind.)
13. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)
14. South Carolina-Beaufort
15. Concordia (Ore.)
16. Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
17. Northwood (Texas)
18. Texas Wesleyan
19. SCAD Atlanta (Ga.)
20. Indiana Tech
21. Houston-Victoria (Texas)
21. William Penn
23. Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)
24. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)
25. Mount Mercy
Others receiving votes: Madonna (Mich.) 118; Milligan (Tenn.) 104; St. Andrews (N.C.) 52, Campbellsville (Ky.) 24; William Carey (Miss.) 22; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 21; Tennessee Wesleyan 21; Grand View 16; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 8; College of Idaho 8; Marian (Ind.) 7; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 3; Webber International (Fla.) 3.
