Benedictine softball picked for conference repeat

Waukesha

Benedictine received eight of 13 first-place votes in the Northern Athletics Conference softball preseason coaches' poll and was picked to repeat as conference champion this 2011 season.

The Eagles (36-7, 23-1 NAC) had 164 total poll points, just five ahead of Aurora (38-9, 22-2) who received the five remaining first-place votes.

Benedictine returns four all-conference players, including NAC Pitcher of the Year Brittany Adcox, and is coming off one of their best seasons in program history.

Aurora finished second in the NAC standings last season, but upset the Eagles in the NAC tournament and advanced to the NCAA III Regional Final.

Dominican (24-15, 17-7) was picked third in the poll with 129 points, followed closely by Lakeland (27-18, 17-7) and Concordia Wisconsin (23-20, 14-10) with 128 and 125 points.

Marian (21-21, 12-12) was sixth with 90 points, just head of Concordia Chicago's (11-29, 10-14) 89 poll points and Edgewood's (15-21, 12-12) 82.

Alverno (13-27, 7-17) was chosen ninth at 59 points, followed by MSOE (15-17, 9-15) at 57, Wisconsin Lutheran (11-25, 6-18) at 44, Rockford (8-26, 7-17) at 41 and Maranatha (3-30, 0-24) at 16 poll points.

Poll points were compiled on a 13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, with the 13 head coaches voting for all 13 teams.

The NAC's automatic qualifier for the 2011 NCAA III Championship is determined by the six-team conference tournament held May 5-7 at Alverno Field in Milwaukee.

2011 NAC Softball Coaches' Preseason Poll
1. Benedictine (8), 164
2. Aurora (5), 159
3. Dominican, 129
4. Lakeland, 128
5. Concordia Wisconsin, 125
6. Marian, 90
7. Concordia Chicago, 89
8. Edgewood, 82
9. Alverno, 59
10. MSOE, 57
11. Wisconsin Lutheran, 44
12. Rockford, 41
13. Maranatha, 16