Full WGCA Preseason Poll Release
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Coming off of a 2018-19 season that saw the Carson-Newman women's golf program sitting in the top 25 of the nation through multiple points of the year, the team heads into this season holding a share of 25th in the Women's Golf Coaches Association's preseason poll that was released on Friday afternoon.
This is the first time in program history that the Eagles begin a season with a national ranking in tow. They go into the year sitting in the same spot with Missouri-St. Louis.
Coach Suzanne Strudwick's team was ranked as high as 23rd a year ago. Through the course of the season, the Eagles collected top-five finishes in nine of their 10 events. Of those, seven came in the top three including a third-consecutive team and individual win at the King Invitational.
With just one newcomer this season in Ellie Haughton (Lincolnshire, England), C-N is filled with experience this season as 10 members from last year's group return. Highlighting that returning is reigning All-South Atlantic Conference First Team selection and Freshman of the Year Maeve Cummins (Waringstown, Northern Ireland) who was last year's tournament medalist before competing in the NCAA South Regional. She was the sixth individual in program history to compete at the event.
Joining Cummins in the slew of experienced players is fellow All-SAC Reagan Kinnie (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) who landed on the Honorable Mention list a year ago. She will be looking to get more reps at the top-spot on the travel team in her final season after playing as the one-seed in three of the eight events she started in last year.
Carson-Newman is one of just two SAC schools represented in the poll as Wingate sits one spot above the Eagles at No. 24.
The start of the season is just over a week away for Strudwick's group as they head to the UINDY Invitational, hosted by the No. 4 team in the nation. The two-day, 54-hole event will begin on Sept. 9 in Carmel, Ind.