|
Clemson, Pfeiffer, Methodist No. 1 in Precept Coaches Poll Top teams remain first in respective Divisions Contact Dustin Roberts NORMAN, Okla. (March 25, 2003) -- Clemson, Pfeiffer and Methodist College all remained No. 1 in their respective Divisions in the Precept Coaches Poll. Clemson has remained in the top spot for four-straight polls in Division I while Pfeiffer and Methodist have claimed the top spot two polls in a row in Divisions II and III, respectively. Clemson garnered 24 of 39 first-place votes to outdistance No. 2 Oklahoma State, who tallied 10 top votes. The winner of three-consecutive tournaments, the Cowboys made the biggest move in the poll, jumping eight spots from No. 10. Augusta State earned two first-place votes and dropped to third and was followed by Texas, who climbed to fourth from eighth. Arizona and Wake Forest each earned first-place votes to rank fifth and sixth, respectively and are followed by TCU, Nevada-Las Vegas, Florida and UCLA. North Carolina checks in at No. 11 with Georgia, Minnesota, Georgia Tech and NC State rounding out the top 15. Auburn vaulted form No. 23 to No. 16. Duke checks in at No. 17 and is followed by New Mexico, who received the remaining first place vote, and Arizona State, who is making its first appearance in the rankings. Northwestern, College of Charleston, Oklahoma, Pepperdine, Washington and Illinois comprise the remainder of the top 25. Southern California dropped out of the rankings. In Division II, Pfeiffer only garnered four first-place votes but retained the top spot. UC-Davis tallied two first-place votes to rank second while West Florida was named No. 1 on the most ballots - eight - but fell one spot to third. South Carolina earned two first-place votes and Cal State-Stanislaus received one to rank fourth and fifth, respectively. Rollins College is ranked sixth and is followed by Cal State- Bakersfield, North Alabama, Florida Southern College and Chico State. Florida Southern also received a first-place vote. Francis Marion starts the second ten and is joined by Colorado-Colorado Springs, Kennesaw State, Grand Canyon, Delta State, Abilene Christian, Central Oklahoma, Cameron, Cal State-San Bernardino and Armstrong Atlantic. Western Washington, Drury, Central Arkansas, Barton College and Georgia College & State University round out the top 25. Grand Valley State fell from the top 25. For the second poll this spring, Wisconsin-Eau Claire led the Division III Precept Coaches poll in first-place votes, nine, but placed second behind No. 1 Methodist College, who earned two first-place votes. Oglethorpe and Guilford College also tallied No. 1 votes and ranked third and fifth, respectively, with Greensboro College coming in at fourth. Ohio Wesleyan is ranked sixth with Saint John's at No. 7 and Central College and Redlands, who moved from No. 24, tied at eighth. Gustavus Adolphus is No. 10. Emory fell out of the top 10 to No. 11 and is followed by Washington & Lee, Otterbein College, Mary Hardin-Baylor and Trinity University, who received a first-place vote, tied at No. 14. Savannah College of Art & Design comes in at No. 16 with Wesley College, Skidmore College, Nebraska Wesleyan, LaVerne, Allegheny College, Muskingum College, Claremont McKenna, Texas-Dallas and Denison completing the rankings. Complete rankings are available at www.collegiategolf.com. To vote in the Precept Coaches poll, a coach must be a member of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). The next Precept Coaches poll will be released April 9 and will contain rankings for all three NCAA Divisions. |