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2017 Northeast Conference Women's Golf Preseason Coaches Poll             1. Sacred Heart (5)             2. Fairleigh Dickinson (2)             3. Wagner             4. Central Connecticut             5. Saint Francis U             6. LIU Brooklyn             7. St. Francis Brooklyn             First place votes in parentheses

 
   
Somerset, NJ -- Following last year’s runner-up finish, Northeast Conference head coaches have picked Sacred Heart to win the program’s first-ever NEC women’s golf title this spring. The Pioneers received five first place votes in the poll. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team. 

Two-time defending NEC champion Fairleigh Dickinson was selected second, claiming the remaining two first place votes. The Knights, who bested SHU by just one stroke in the closest finish in NEC Championship history last year, have captured six of the last nine conference crowns.

Wagner was picked third, Central Connecticut fourth and Saint Francis U landed in the fifth spot. LIU Brooklyn and St. Francis Brooklyn rounded out the preseason rankings. 

Under the tutelage of 12th-year head coach and 2016 NEC Coach of the Year Matthew McGreevy, Sacred Heart returns a pair of NEC all-stars to the links. Sophomore Chelsea Sedlar (Merrimack, NH/Bishop Guertin) is the reigning NEC individual champion. She bested the championship field by one stroke at last year’s event, firing a 229 (76-79-74) over three rounds. Her teammate, Ellen Nighbor (Glen Ellyn, IL/Glenbard West), finished one stroke back (74-79-77) and was named the NEC Golfer of the Year. Nighbor, a senior, led SHU with a 77.1 stroke average and ended the year with six top-five finishes for the Pioneers. It was Nighbor’s second All-NEC first team honor. Sedlar was also selected to the All-NEC first team she averaged 79.9 strokes per round and claimed three individual titles. The Glen Ellyn, IL native was named NEC Golfer of the Month twice this past fall.

Fairleigh Dickinson’s ambitions to three-peat may rest on the shoulders of a pair of returning All-NEC award winners. Senior Rebecca Wright (Melbourne, Australia/Moama Anglican Grammar School) and junior Gabriela Santini (San Juan, Puerto Rico/San Jose) were both named to last year’s All-NEC second team. Santini, who was the 2015 NEC individual champion, averaged 77.9 strokes per round and finished 11th at the NEC championship. Wright averaged 79.4 strokes per 18 holes and tied for runner-up honors at the NEC meet.

Two other All-NEC honorees return this season in LIU Brooklyn junior Lauren Rutherglen (Kelowna, British Columbia/Immaculata Regional) and Wagner sophomore Pascalle Tego (Mexico City, Mexico/Colegio Monteverde). Both were tabbed to the second team a year ago.

The 2017 NEC Women’s Golf Championship will be held from April 21-23 on the Jones Course at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, FL.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 36th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Google+, all @NECsports.