The Lewis-Clark State College men’s golf team is ranked No. 22 in the Golf World/Nike Golf NAIA Preseason Coaches’ Poll, which was released Wednesday.

LCSC, which won the Frontier Conference title and finished No. 27 at the NAIA national tournament from a year ago, returns three of its five players from the national meet.

Oklahoma Christian, the reigning NAIA national champions, is tabbed as the No. 1 team. The Eagles received 11 of the 12 first-place votes. British Columbia, the No. 2 squad in the poll, received the other first-place vote.

Rounding out the top-five are Oklahoma City (No. 3), USC-Beaufont (No. 4) and Malone (No. 5).

GOLF WORLD/NIKE GOLF COACHES’ POLL

NAIA – Preseason Edition

RANK    TEAM                            POINTS  ’09 NCAA
1.      Oklahoma Christian (11) 295             1
2.      British Columbia (1)            284             3
3.      Oklahoma City           271             4
4.      USC-Beaufont            222             7
5.      Malone                          221             6
6.      Texas Wesleyan          219             2
7.      Johnson & Wales         213             8
8.      Wayland Baptist         191             T-12
9.      Oklahoma Baptist                178             9
          SCAD                            178             T-14
11.     Victoria                                171             T-14
12.     Holy Names                      144             10
13.     Lindenwood                      116             17
14.     BerryCollege                   114             5
15.     Lee                             107             DNP
16.     Point Loma Nazarene             105             T-12
17.     Southern Nazarene               99              DNP
18.     Davenport                       97              11
19.     Northwood (Texas)               85              DNP
20.     California Baptist              76              DNP
                Webber International            76              DNP
22.     Bethany                         67              DNP
23.     Lewis-ClarkState               58              DNP
24.     Northwood (Fla.)                53              DNP
25.     St. Ambrose                     50              DNP

Also receiving votes: CSU-East Bay, 32; U. of the Cumberlands, 30; Huntington, 21; CSU-San Marcos, 20; Cumberland, 19; Dakota Wesleyan, 15; Mobile, 13; Concordia (Ore.), 9; Indiana Wesleyan, 9; The Master's College, 9; Saint Thomas, 7; Rocky Mountain, 6; Embry-Riddle, 4; Grand View, 4; Bethel College (Ind.), 3; Shorter, 3; Thomas, 3; William Woods, 2; Lindsey Wilson, 1.

First-place votes in parenthesis