Women’s Golf Top 25 Poll – Final
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Oklahoma City received 10 first-place votes and 431 total points to retain the No. 1 ranking for the fifth-straight week in the final edition of the 2012 NAIA Women's Golf Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Thursday. The Stars, who own a NAIA-best 40 all-time top rankings, punched their ticket to the 2012 NAIA Women's Golf National Championships held in Greenville, Tenn., May 15 - 18, with a team title at the Sooner Athletic Conference Women's Golf Championships at Lincoln Park Golf Course on April 16 - 17. Individually, Oklahoma City placed three participants in the top 10, including a second place finish by Jessica Schiele (72-72-144).
Qualifiers for the 20th annual NAIA Women's Golf National Championships will be announced at 4 p.m. CDT on www.NAIA.org. The first and second round pairings for the event will then be unveiled on Friday at 3 p.m. CDT.
British Columbia comes in at No. 2 after spending the last two polls rated third, while Lee (Tenn.) falls one spot to No. 3. The Thunderbirds captured first place at the Association of Independent Institutions Championships on April 22 - 23 by shooting 301-300 - 601 to top a field that included No. 12 Cal State San Marcos and No. 14 Victoria (B.C.). Propelled by four individuals placing in the top 5, including an individual crown by Courtney Shelton, Lee won the Southern States Athletic Conference by 37 strokes with a 310-304 - 614.
No. 4 William Woods (Mo.) earned 394 points following a team title at the American Midwest Conference Championships on April 22 - 23. The Owl's Ashlee Daly posted a two round score of 158 to edge teammate Naomi Starr's 159.
As it has in four out of five polls this season, No. 5 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) rounds out the top five with 380 points despite a third place finish at The Sun Conference Championships on April 20 - 21.
The only team to make a significant move in this week's poll is Rocky Mountain (Mont.), which jumped from unranked to No. 22 following a first-place finish at the Frontier Conference Championships on April 23 - 24. The Battlin' Bears cruised past Montana Tech (313-386) in the opening round before surprising second-seeded and No. 24 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), 311-321, in the semifinals and top-seeded and No. 18 Westminster (Utah), 630-645, in the finals. The ranking is the first for Rocky Mountain since April 15, 2011.
No team other than Lewis-Clark State fell more than two spots as 24 of the 25 ranked squads from the April 13 poll retained positions in the Top 25.
Eleven conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by five squads from the Sooner Athletic Conference: Oklahoma City, No. 7 Lubbock Christian (Texas), No. 10 Oklahoma Christian, No. 16 Wayland Baptist (Texas) and No. 20 Southern Nazarene (Okla.). The Sun Conference boasts four ranked members: Embry-Riddle, No. 6 Northwood (Fla.), No. 8 SCAD Savannah (Ga.) and No. 11 South Carolina Beaufort.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/independents/unaffiliated groups. The postseason poll will be announced on May 25.
Notes: (All information dates back to 2000 season) Nine different programs have been ranked No. 1 ... Oklahoma City owns the most No. 1-rankings with 40, followed by British Columbia with 11 ... No other programs have been listed first more than three total times ... There have been five preseason No. 1s that have gone on to win the national championship with the last happening in 2011 ... Oklahoma City and British Columbia have both owned the top-spot in the poll for the duration of a season ... The Stars were listed at No. 1 for all of 2008, 07, 04, and 03 and the Thunderbirds topped the list for all of 2001.
| RANK | PVS | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Oklahoma City (10) | 431 |
| 2 | 3 | British Columbia (5) | 419 |
| 3 | 2 | Lee (Tenn.) (1) | 416 |
| 4 | 4 | William Woods (Mo.) | 394 |
| 5 | 5 | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | 380 |
| 6 | 6 | Northwood (Fla.) | 358 |
| 7 | 8 | Lubbock Christian (Texas) | 349 |
| 8 | 8 | SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | 333 |
| 9 | 7 | Shorter (Ga.) | 325 |
| 10 | 11 | Oklahoma Christian | 302 |
| 11 | 10 | South Carolina Beaufort | 297 |
| 12 | 11 | Cal State San Marcos | 286 |
| 13 | 13 | Concordia (Ore.) | 270 |
| 14 | 15 | Bethel (Ind.) | 251 |
| 15 | 14 | Victoria (B.C.) | 244 |
| 16 | 16 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 228 |
| 17 | 17 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 203 |
| 18 | 17 | Westminster (Utah) | 195 |
| 19 | 19 | College of Idaho | 188 |
| 20 | 20 | Southern Nazarene (Okla.) | 178 |
| 21 | 23 | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | 144 |
| 22 | RV | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 134 |
| 23 | 22 | Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) | 128 |
| 24 | 21 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 109 |
| 25 | 25 | Cumberland (Tenn.) | 105 |
Others receiving votes: Oklahoma Baptist 90; Grand View (Iowa) 67; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 62; Rogers State (Okla.) 29; Madonna (Mich.) 13; Mobile (Ala.) 12; Morningside (Iowa) 8; St. Francis (Ill.) 7; Milligan (Tenn.) 5; Marian (Ind.) 3; Northwestern (Iowa) 3; Bethel (Tenn.) 1; Southwestern (Kan.) 1; Campbellsville (Ky.) 1.
