Northfield, Minn.––Carleton College, which posted its best fall season in program history, is ranked 19th in the final Golf World/National Golf Coaches Association Division III poll.
The fall season witnessed the Knights posting the best two 18- and 36-hole totals in school history as their fall average was nearly nine full shots less than last year's school record average. The Knights are one of four MIAC teams in the poll.
The position is the second-highest national ranking in program history. The 2007-08 team was ranked 17th during the spring season.
The Knights were led in the fall by rookie Hope Keaney (San Anselmo, Calif./Marin Catholic) and her 84.8 stroke average. Junior Laura Knutson (Edina, Minn.) ended the fall second on the team with a 85.2 average and earned All-MIAC honors by finishing in the top 10 at the MIAC Championships for the second straight season, becoming the first Carleton player to earn all-conference honors in consecutive seasons. The Knights' success this fall, though, was thanks in large part to the massive improvements of junior Louise Buckler (Blaine, Minn./St. Paul Academy) and sophomore Traci Johnson (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North). Buckler tallied an 85.5 average, more than seven strokes better than last season's average, while Johnson knocked eight shots off last year's average to finish the fall campaign at 86.3.
Methodist University tops the poll, with UW-Eau Claire (No. 2), St. Mary’s (Ind.) (No. 3), MIAC champion Gustavus Adolphus (No. 4) and Washington University in St. Louis (No. 5) rounding out the top five. St. Benedict (No. 15) and St. Thomas (No. 24) is also ranked. The MIAC and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) tied with four teams each in the poll, although provisional Division III member Birmingham Southern appeared in the poll despite not being eligible for NCAA Championships play until the 2011-12 season.
Carleton is off until returning to competitive action at the 2010 Jekyll Island Collegiate March 19-21.
