CCC Player of the Year Lindsay Aho and the Concordia Cavaliers have moved to No. 5 in this week's NAIA women's golf Top 25 poll.
Concordia Climbs to No. 5 in NAIA Golf Top 25
NAIA Poll - April 23, 2010
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Less than a week after securing its third straight Cascade Collegiate Conference title, the Concordia women’s golf team moved up one spot to No. 5 in the fourth edition of the NAIA Women's Golf Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Friday.
With all five competitors obtaining all-conference status, including CCC Player of the Year, Lindsay Aho, Concordia tallied 353 total votes, up from 332 in the previous poll released on April 9.
After spending three consecutive polls at No. 2, Embry-Riddle (Fla.) moved into the top spot. The Eagles were awarded seven first-place votes to total 398 points. Second-ranked Oklahoma City earned six first-place votes, but is two points back with 396 points. No. 3 British Columbia, who also received a pair of first-place votes, and No. 4 California Baptist held steady.
Embry-Riddle's move to No. 1 snaps Oklahoma City's nine straight poll appearances dating back to Feb. 27, 2009, as the top-ranked squad. The Eagles captured The Sun Conference Tournament title on Tuesday behind a 297-299--596 performance. Senior Carrie Rowe took home the individual title by carding a 75-68--143.
Outside of the shake-up at the top of the poll, 18 teams adjusted their position. Seven teams climbed in the poll, led by South Carolina - Beaufort's jump to No. 6, an improvement of nine spots from the poll on April 9. Savannah College of Art & Design (Ga.) and William Woods (Mo.) each dropped three spots, to No. 8 and 17, respectively.
Ten conferences and unaffiliated groupings are represented in the poll, led by the unaffiliated grouping of the California Pacific Conference, Golden State Athletic Conference, Cascade Collegiate Conference and Association of Independent Institutions with five listed teams: British Columbia, California Baptist, Concordia (Ore.), 11 California State-San Marcos and No. 13 Victoria (B.C.). The Sooner Athletic Conference and The Sun Conference each have four teams ranked among the Top 25.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups. The final poll will be announced on May 7. Qualifiers to the 16th Annual NAIA Women's Golf National Championships at Meadowbrook Municipal Golf Course in Rapid City, S.D., May 25 - 28 will be announced May 13 at 3:30 p.m. CDT. Pairings for the event will be announced on May 14 at 3:30 p.m. CDT.