CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- Entering just the fifth year of competition in program history, the Christopher Newport women's golf team has wasted little time making an impression on Division III golf as the Captains hauled in its highest team ranking ever in the WGCA Preseason Coaches Poll released on Friday. Christopher Newport will open the 2021-22 campaign ranked No. 12 in the nation for the team's second straight start in the nation's top 20.
Methodist University led four squads receiving first-place votes with nine and captured the top spot in the preseason poll with 320 points. Carnegie Mellon, George Fox, Redlands, and Williams round out the top five with Christopher Newport lurking at No. 12 with 129 points in the poll.
The returning roster for the Captains features a pair of All-State selections including rising senior All-American
Shreya Ganta. Ganta was named an honorable mention WGCA All-American in 2021 after becoming the second player in the short history of CNU Women's Golf to qualify for the national championship. While there, Ganta won a sudden-death playoff to make the cut and finished the event with a top-30 showing and a +32 score over 72 holes of action.
The veteran enjoyed a career-best 78.5 average during her third year in 14 rounds of play. In five events, she posted three top-five finishes, including a second-place showing at the VSGA Intercollegiate behind a career-low 72.
Also back in action for the Captains in 2021 will be junior
Lauren Sims, a two-time All-State pick. Sims started in all four regular season tournaments last year and finished the year with an 83.5 average. She matched her career low with a 76 at the Golfweek DIII Spring Invitational and finished 17th in the vaunted individual field.
In addition to the aforementioned honored Captains, the women's golf team features a pair of incoming freshman in
Alex Delgado and
Elena Rezac alongside two more seasoned players. Senior
Hannah Bristow and sophomore
Cameron Marshall each return for CNU this season.
DIVISION III WGCA COACHES POLL
| Rank |
University (First Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
Methodist University (9) |
320 |
| 2 |
Carnegie Mellon University (2) |
312 |
| 3 |
George Fox University (1) |
286 |
| 4 |
University of Redlands |
277 |
| 5 |
Williams College (1) |
262 |
| 6 |
Centre College |
247 |
| 7 |
Emory University |
224 |
| T8 |
St. Catherine University |
183 |
| T8 |
Washington and Lee University |
183 |
| 10 |
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor |
160 |
| 11 |
Illinois Wesleyan University |
143 |
| 12 |
Christopher Newport University |
129 |
| 13 |
Rhodes College |
119 |
| 14 |
Berry College |
117 |
| 15 |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
114 |
| 16 |
York College of Pennsylvania |
105 |
| 17 |
Bethel University |
104 |
| 18 |
Washington University in St. Louis |
89 |
| 19 |
University of Texas at Dallas |
87 |
| 20 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
81 |
| 21 |
New York University |
77 |
| 22 |
University of California, Santa Cruz |
68 |
| 23 |
Amherst College |
64 |
| 24 |
Carleton College |
63 |
| T25 |
Denison University |
48 |
| T25 |
Trinity University (Texas) |
48 |
|
|
|
| Others Receiving Votes: Rose Hulman Institute of Technology (45); Southwestern University (38); Gustavus Adolphus College (36); Saint Mary's College (36); University of Wisconsin, Whitewater (33); Middlebury College (26); Carthage College (25); DePauw University (17); California Lutheran University (15); Grinnell College (12); Oglethorpe University (12); Wittenberg University (9); Sewanee: The University of the South (3); University of Wisconsin-Stout (3); Whitman College (3); Calvin University (1); Huntingdon College (1) |
