Defending national champion Nova Southeastern received 16 first-place votes to debut atop the Bushnell Golfweek Preseason Division II Coaches Poll, while the Simon Fraser University Clan, coming off a fifth-place finish at nationals in 2014, was picked to finish ninth.
Simon Fraser finished fifth in the stroke-play rounds at the 2014 NCAA D2 national championship, the program’s best-ever placing and the highest finish ever by a team from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
In addition, SFU’s Chris Crisologo of Richmond, who will be a sophomore this season, was named to the NCAA Division II PING All-America second team.
Crisologo was named the Great Northwest freshman of the year this season. He tied the low round of the year in the conference with a 66 at the Great Northwest championships and led the Clan in scoring in both the NCAA West/South Central regionals and at the NCAA championships.
The Simon Fraser men’s team lost senior captain John Mlikotic from last year’s squad, but otherwise returns 10 athletes. The Clan also added freshman Mitchell MacLeod.
Nova Southeastern was previously ranked No. 1 in the final seven regular season polls last season.
NCAA runner-up Lynn received two first-place votes and is ranked second. USC Aiken is third. Fourth-ranked Barry received the final first-place vote. Central Missouri and Florida Southern are tied at No. 5, followed by Saint Leo, Chico State, Simon Fraser and CSU-Monterey Bay.
All eight teams that advanced to medal-match play at last spring’s NCAA championships are ranked in the top 10.
Bushnell Golfweek Division II Coaches Poll - Preseason
Rank University (First Place Votes) Points, NCAA Finals Finish
1 Nova Southeastern (16) 472; champion
2 Lynn (2) 435; runner-up
3 USC Aiken 390; quarterfinals
4 Barry (1) 348; 10th
T5 Central Missouri 344; semifinals
T5 Florida Southern 344; quarterfinals
7 Saint Leo 343; semifinals
8 Chico State 335; quarterfinals
9 Simon Fraser 300; quarterfinals
10 CSU Monterey Bay; 291; ninth
