Softball Team Tabbed Seventh in Preseason Poll

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker College softball team has been voted seventh in the Conference Carolinas preseason poll, the league office announced today.

The Cobras return all-conference players Sydney Weatherford (OF), Bryant McLendon (P/DH) and Stacy Burr (C) to this year's team. Coker finished seventh in the Conference Carolinas standings in 2012, falling to Limestone in the third round of the league tournament.

North Greenville University took the top spot in the poll with 89 points and two first-place votes. Mount Olive College, with four first-place votes, edged out defending conference champion King College for second with 85 points. King came in at third with 84 points and four first-place finishes.

The entire preseason poll is as follows: 1. North Greenville University; 2. Mount Olive College; 3. King College; 4. Erskine College; 5. Limestone College; 6. Queens University of Charlotte; 7. Coker College; 8. Belmont Abbey College; T9. Lees-McRae College; T9. Pfeiffer 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.