BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The University of Charleston edged out Davis & Elkins in the preseason voting and has been named the 2022 preseason favorite in men’s golf, the Mountain East Conference office announced following a vote of the league’s coaches.

Charleston received 78 points during voting, including six of the 10 first-place votes. The Golden Eagles will have to replace the 2021 MEC Player of the Year in Mitch Hoffman but return Erik Ulvang and Victor Del Pozo Ramis to the course this season. UC also moved on to the NCAA Division II National Championship a season ago, finishing 20^th at the event.

Davis & Elkins was second in the voting with 75 points and the remaining four first-place votes. The Senators took third at last year’s MEC Championship, before joining UC at the NCAA Division II National Championships last spring. D&E was the top MEC finisher at the national championships with a 17^th place finish. The Senators return seniors Jack Coleman and Jordan Hyland to the lineup this season.

West Liberty, the 2021 MEC Men’s Golf runner-up, was third (64), followed by Fairmont State (52), Glenville State (50), Concord (47) and Notre Dame (30). Wheeling was eighth (23), and West Virginia Wesleyan (21) and West Virginia State (10) rounded out the poll.

The MEC Championship will be held Oct. 3-5 at Avalon Lakes in Warren, Ohio.