KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Defending national champion Keiser (Fla.) is the No. 1 team in the 2015 NAIA Women’s Golf Preseason Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Friday. The Seahawks claimed 14 first-place votes and 405 points overall.
This is the second time that Keiser, formerly Northwood, starts the season atop the poll, dating back to 1999. The Seahawks have been ranked No. 1 since last year’s preseason poll, and look to become just the second team (Oklahoma City ’03, ’04, ’07, and ’08) to go the entire season ranked No. 1 in back-to-back seasons.
Keiser returns 10-of-11 players from last year’s national championship team. The Seahawks also welcomes back six NAIA All-Americans, including last year’s individual runner-up, Elsa Westin. Keiser starts its season at the Coastal Georgia Invitational on Sept. 14.
SCAD Savannah (Ga.) comes in at No. 2 with 386 total points. The Bees return four of their top five players from a second-place team finish at last year’s championships. Sofia Molinaro is the program’s top returner. She finished in a tie for third at the 2015 NAIA national championship. SCAD Savannah begins its season against USC Beaufort (S.C.) on Sept. 18.
William Woods (Mo.) comes in at No. 3 with 383 points, while Cumberlands (Ky.) (355 points) and Dalton State (346 points) round out the top five. The Roadrunners finished last spring’s national tournament tied for second in the nation. They return Tournament Individual Champion Julia McQuilken and NAIA tournament No. 6 Caroline Griffin.
No. 22 Bethel (Ind.), No. 24 Marian (Ind.), and No. 25 Madonna (Mich.) are the only three new teams to the Top 25 Poll. All three teams were receiving votes in postseason poll this past year.
This poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups. The first regular-season poll will be announced Nov. 6.
For the complete Women’s Golf ratings calendar, click here.
Notes: (All information dates back to 1999) Eleven different programs have been ranked No. 1 all-time… No. 1 Keiser (Fla.) is making its seventh appearance in the top spot … Oklahoma City leads the NAIA with 43 all-time No. 1 rankings, followed by British Columbia with 13 and SCAD Savannah (Ga.) with eight… Three programs have held the No. 1 ranking for an entire season: British Columbia (2001) and Oklahoma City (2003, 04, 07, 08) and Keiser (2015)… SCAD Savannah has been ranked in 66-straight polls since returning to the NAIA in 2003, including 12 in-a-row in the top 5…Former-member Mary-Hardin Baylor (Texas) (2000), British Columbia (2001), Oklahoma City (2007, 08) former-member California Baptist (2011) and Keiser (2015) are the only Preseason No. 1 teams to go on to win the National Championships during the same season.
2015 NAIA Women’s Golf Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll – (Aug. 28)
|
RANK
|
LAST
|
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)
|
TOTAL POINTS
|
|
1
|
1
|
Keiser (Fla.) (14)
|
405
|
|
2
|
2
|
SCAD Savannah (Ga.)
|
386
|
|
3
|
4
|
William Woods (Mo.) (1)
|
383
|
|
4
|
5
|
Cumberlands
|
355
|
|
5
|
4
|
Dalton State (Ga.)
|
346
|
|
6
|
6
|
Oklahoma City
|
345
|
|
7
|
7
|
Bellevue (Neb.)
|
331
|
|
8
|
8
|
Wayland Baptist (Texas)
|
316
|
|
9
|
9
|
USC Beaufort (S.C.)
|
295
|
|
10
|
10
|
Texas Wesleyan
|
292
|
|
11
|
1
|
British Columbia
|
285
|
|
12
|
12
|
William Penn (Iowa)
|
261
|
|
13
|
16
|
Victoria (B.C.)
|
241
|
|
14
|
17
|
Indiana Tech
|
233
|
|
15
|
18
|
William Carey (Miss.)
|
210
|
|
16
|
14
|
Houston-Victoria (Texas)
|
205
|
|
17
|
21
|
Campbellsville (Ky.)
|
198
|
|
18
|
19
|
Thomas (Ga.)
|
194
|
|
19
|
23
|
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)
|
167
|
|
20
|
22
|
Milligan (Tenn.)
|
159
|
|
21
|
24
|
Mobile (Ala.)
|
119
|
|
T22
|
25
|
Southeastern (Fla.)
|
118
|
|
T22
|
RV
|
Bethel (Ind.)
|
118
|
|
24
|
RV
|
Marian (Ind.)
|
104
|
|
25
|
RV
|
Madonna (Mich.)
|
94
|
|
|
|
|
|
Others receiving votes: Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 91; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 46; Lewis-Clark State 45; Coastal Georgia 33; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 31; College of Idaho 26; Cumberland (Tenn.) 8; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 7; Saint Xavier (Ill.) 4; Lawrence Tech (Mich.) 3; Biola (Calif.) 3; Park (Mo.) 3; Webber International (Fla.) 3.
^ 2015 NAIA Women’s Golf Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 – (Aug. 28)