HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker College women's golf team has been picked sixth in the Conference Carolinas preseason coaches' poll, the league office announced today. The Cobras tied with Converse College in the poll.

The women's team had a successful fall season, placing in the top three in two of the four events. They took second place at the Montreat Invitational in October and third place at the Anderson University Invitational in September.

Coker returns junior Krista Thorpe and sophomores Sara Allen, Jessi McKenzie and Mallory Thompkins. Taylor Demby, a freshman, joins this year's team.

The 2013 season begins Feb. 2 at the Tusculum Kiawah Invitational in Kiawah Island, S.C.

Queens University of Charlotte, the defending conference champion, was voted first by the coaches. The Royals earned 96 points and six first-place votes. Mount Olive College was second with 91 points and four first-place votes.

The entire preseason poll is as follows: 1. Queens University of Charlotte; 2. Mount Olive College; 3. King College; T4. Erskine College; T4. Pfeiffer University; T6. Coker College; T6. Converse College; 8. Limestone College; 9. Belmont Abbey College; 10. North Greenville University; 11. Barton College.

Conference Carolinas is a NCAA Division II athletic conference made up of 12 teams from North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. These institutions are Barton College, Belmont Abbey College, Coker College, Converse College, Erskine College, King College, Lees-McRae College, Limestone College, Mount Olive College, North Greenville University, Pfeiffer University and Queens University of Charlotte.

For more information, contact Chris Dougherty, manager of athletics media relations, at 843-383-8018 or cdougherty@coker.edu.

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Coker College readies undergraduates for personal and professional success through a distinctive four-year program that emphasizes a practical application of the liberal arts as well as hands-on and discussion-based learning within and beyond the classroom. Coker is ranked among the "Best Colleges" in the South by U.S. News & World Report as well as The Princeton Review. Located in Hartsville, S.C., Coker is within two hours of the cultural, financial and recreational resources of Charlotte, Columbia, Charleston and Myrtle Beach.