Highest Ranking Ever for Statesmen at #12
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Oskaloosa–Thanks to a tremendous outing at last week’s national tournament, the William Penn women’s golf program vaulted all the way up to #12 in the NAIA’s postseason top-25 poll Friday.
The Statesmen, who placed 12th at nationals, received 293 points to claim their highest-ranking ever; their previous best was #16 in last year’s postseason poll.
National champion Northwood (Fla.) is a unanimous #1 with 467 points and all 17 first-place votes. SCAD Savannah (Ga.) is second, while William Woods (Mo.), Dalton State (Ga.), and Cumberlands (Ky.) round out the top five.
WPU played with Cumberlands the first two days of nationals and also finished second to William Woods during the regular season. Another top-10 program–Bellevue (Neb.)–was on the Statesmen’s schedule this year as well.
“I am really happy for our players,” Head Coach Nik Rule said. “They have worked hard all year and felt disrespected after every poll. We kept telling them to work hard because we need to keep making a name for ourselves as we are fairly new on the national scene. They took it as motivation all year and performed well week after week. It is great to see that work rewarded.”
NAIA Women’s Golf Postseason Rating – May 22, 2015
(Number in parentheses is first-place votes)
1. Northwood (Fla.) (17)
2. SCAD Savannah (Ga.)
3. William Woods (Mo.)
4. Dalton State (Ga.)
5. Cumberlands (Ky.)
6. Oklahoma City
7. Bellevue (Neb.)
8. Wayland Baptist (Texas)
9. South Carolina Beaufort
10. Texas Wesleyan
11. British Columbia
12. William Penn
13. Cal State-San Marcos
14. Houston-Victoria (Texas)
15. Concordia (Ore.)
16. Victoria (B.C.)
17. Indiana Tech
18. William Carey (Miss.)
19. Thomas (Ga.)
20. Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
21. Campbellsville (Ky.)
22. Milligan (Tenn.)
23. Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)
24. Mobile (Ala.)
25. Southeastern (Fla.)
Others receiving votes: Marian (Ind.) 76; Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 70; Cumberland (Tenn.) 47; Oklahoma Baptist 46; Madonna (Mich.) 38; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 35; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 24; Coastal Georgia 20; Bethel (Ind.) 7.
