WINTHROP, Mass. – Defending Great Northeast Athletic Conference champion Johnson & Wales University has been ranked atop the 2016 GNAC Softball Preseason Poll, as voted upon by the league's 12 head coaches.
Saint Joseph's College, which went 27-13 overall and 16-6 in GNAC play last spring, finished third in the preseason poll with 114 points. Led by Co-Head Coaches Jamie Smyth '92 and Dick Bailey, Saint Joseph's advanced to GNAC Championship Sunday last year before getting eliminated by JWU, a loss which ended the Monks' four-year GNAC title run.
The Monks return a solid corps of upperclassmen for the 2016 campaign, including All-Conference honorees Erica Boulanger (Somersworth, N.H.), Carla Tripp (Lovell, Maine), and Jennifer Murphy (Andover, Mass.) as well as seniors Melissa Mayhew (Hiram, Maine) and Megen Pollini (Wolfeboro, N.H.)
Last spring, the Wildcats went 14-8 in GNAC play to earn the fifth seed in the conference tournament before going on to win it. They received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, where the program earned its first-ever NCAA win over Eastern Connecticut State before ultimately being eliminated by Husson.
JWU received seven of a possible 12 first-place votes and 132 points in the poll, finishing just ahead of Albertus Magnus College, which garnered 127 points and two first-place nods. Albertus Magnus finished second in the GNAC regular-season standings last season before falling to JWU in the GNAC Championship. The Falcons then advanced to the ECAC New England Championship game.
Defending GNAC regular-season champion Suffolk University received three first-place votes and 111 points in the poll. The Rams went 17-5 in conference-play last season to earn the top seed in the league tournament. Emmanuel College followed Suffolk with an even 100 points to round out the top-five in the preseason ranking.
Simmons College finished sixth with 86 points, followed by the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) with 79 points, Lasell College with 47 points, and Mount Ida College and Norwich University tied with 46 points apiece. Rivier University and Anna Maria College rounded out the voting with 35 and 13 points, respectively.
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.
2016 GNAC Softball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Johnson & Wales (7) - 132
2. Albertus Magnus (2) - 127
3. Saint Joseph's Maine - 114
4. Suffolk (3) - 111
5. Emmanuel - 100
6. Simmons - 86
7. USJ - 79
8. Lasell - 47
T9. Mount Ida - 46
T9. Norwich - 46
11. Rivier - 35
12. Anna Maria - 13
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
