ELMHURST, Ill. – After finishing the 2017 Summit League Championship as runners-up, the South Dakota State women’s golf team was picked fourth in the 2018 league coaches preseason poll Thursday.

The women’s team received 33 points from the league’s eight head coaches. Last season, SDSU was picked second.

Defending Summit League champion Denver was selected the favorite to claim the 2018 league championship with 49 points and seven first-place votes. Oral Roberts, which had one first-place vote, and North Dakota State both totaled 38 points in a tie for second. South Dakota (20 points) was picked fifth, Western Illinois (19) sixth, Omaha (14) seventh and IPFW (8) eighth.

The Jackrabbits turned in a pair of top-10 finishes this fall. Four of the five starters have sub-75 scoring averages. The team sports a 299 average for 12 rounds and ranks second in the conference behind Denver.

Sophomore Teresa Toscano was chosen one of nine players to watch. She finished the fall leading the team and ranking third in the Summit League with a 72.33 scoring average. Her best fall finish came at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, shooting a 3-over-par 219 to tie for 26th.

Sophomore Sydney Bormann and freshman Cassidy Laidlaw both have a 75.2 stroke average. Bormann turned in a fifth-place finish in the season opener at the UNO Invitational, while Laidlaw’s best finish was tying for 11th at the MSU Payne Stewart Memorial.

The 2018 Summit League Women’s Golf Championship is April 22-24 at the ArbolrLinks Golf Club in Nebraska City, Neb. The team champion earns the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Women’s Golf Tournament.

The SDSU women’s team opens its spring season Feb. 24-25 at the GCU Invitational in Phoenix.

Photo from www.gojacks.com.