Thomasville, NC- The Belmont Abbey College men’s golf team has been honored by being selected the 2007 CVAC preseason coaches poll favorite.  The Abbey returns veteran experience in All-CVAC 1^st Team senior Kasey Timms along with CVAC All-Tournament sophomore Justin Wong.  They will also look to newcomer Conor Tomlinson for added punch in the lineup.

The Abbey is ranked 29^th in the latest GCAA/Bridgestone Division II Coaches Poll. The Crusaders put together a solid fall season that saw it win its home tournament, the Checkered Flag Shootout, posting a ten-over 298. Timms was the leader in the fall, posting a team-best 73.43 stroke average in seven rounds, including a low round of 70. At the end of the fall season, longtime coach and 2006 CVAC Coach of the Year Doug Ehmann resigned and was replaced by women’s coach Jim Haughey.  Haughey and the Crusaders look to continue the fall success as they move into 2007.

Pfeiffer University comes into the preseason poll in the second spot and ranked 31^st in the latest GCAA/Bridgestone DII national poll.  After coming off of a ninth place finish at the 2006 NCAA Division II National Championship, the Falcons will have to replace last years CVAC Player of the Year Ian Kentwright and 2^nd Team All-CVAC member Eric Forsman.  Senior David Harris who was a 2006 All-CVAC 2^nd Team member looks to fill those shoes along with added strength from some timely newcomers on the roster. Second year head coach Brandon Turner believes there are good things ahead for the Falcons this spring. “We are obviously disappointed with how our fall season unfolded.  While we had some impressive individual tournament results, we did not meet our expectations as a team.  Fortunately for us, the spring is when it counts.  Our main objective is to break back into that top 25.  We have perennially been there, and that is our intent this spring.  I fully expect our upperclassmen to have a great season.  With the addition of our two new players from South Africa, we have the makings of a very talented team.  We are looking forward to getting back on track in the spring."

 Barton College returns four of five starters from a team that played its way to a third NCAA D-II National Championship berth in the last four seasons. The Bulldogs have added three talented freshmen who saw plenty of playing time in the fall, when Barton won once and finished third, seventh and ninth in its other events. Leading the way for the Bulldogs is lone senior Nick Nosewicz and freshmen Kyle Post, Taylor Hernandez, and Stephen Harrison. Sophomore Jonathan Burke, junior Neal Jones, and junior Joe Elwell also return from last year’s National Championship lineup (finished 19^th).  “We have a young, talented team with tons of potential,” 10^th-year Barton head coach John Hackney said. “We experimented with a lot of different lineups in the fall, and I really like our depth. Any one of our nine players could travel on a given week, which is a great luxury to have.”

Rounding out the golf preseason poll 4-10 were: Coker, Mount Olive, Anderson, Limestone, St. Andrews, Queens, and Lees-McRae respectively.

Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Pre-Season Coaches’ Poll

(First place votes in parenthesis)

2007 CVAC “Preseason Players to Watch” List

(As selected by the member institutions)

Name:                           School:             Year:    Highlights:

Adam Sheriff                 Anderson           So.       ’06 All-CVAC 1^st Team & CVAC
                                                                        Freshman of the Year

Kyle Post                       Barton College   Fr.        Won once and led Barton in fall with 73.6 avg.

Nick Nosewicz                Barton College  Sr.         Avg. 74.7 in fall, currently rated 8^th in region

Kasey Timms                 Belmont Abbey Sr.        ’06 All-CVAC 1^st Team

Conor Tomlinson           Belmont Abbey  Fr.

Blaine Rogers                Coker               Sr.        Member of 2006 National Qualifying Team

Chris Marsh                   Coker               Fr.

Eric Hinson                    Lees-McRae       Fr.

Paul Butler                    Limestone          Sr.        ’06 All-CVAC Honorable Mention

Mick Moberg                  Mount Olive       Jr.         ’06 All-CVAC 2^nd Team

Chris Bitzenhofer           Mount Olive       Sr.        2nd-lowest average on team in 2005-06

Scott Kegerreis              Queens             So.       Top Queens Player
Andy Serketich              Queens             Sr.        Team Captain

David Harris                  Pfeiffer              Sr.        ’06 All-CVAC 2^nd Team

Matt Whelband               Pfeiffer              Sr.        ’06 Atlantic All-Region

Alvin Yeung                   St. Andrews       Sr.        ‘04 FOY, 2-time All-CVAC, October GOM

John Kolls                      St. Andrews       Sr.        74.4 average in 9 fall tournament rounds