BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – Charleston narrowly edged Glenville State and Wheeling to earn the top spot in the 2022 Mountain East Conference Women’s Golf Preseason Poll, the league office announced on Thursday afternoon.

Only five points separated the top three teams during voting, as Charleston took the top spot with 58 points and three first-place votes. Charleston finished third at the MEC Golf Championships a season ago and will return four of their top five players, including Beatrice Dietz, Victoria Witouski, Aleigha Hodges and Brooke Devolld. Glenville State, runner-up at the 2021 MEC Women’s Golf Championship, finished second in the preseason voting with 56 points and three first-place votes. Junior Elizabeth Bickar and sophomore Grace Halcrow will lead the Pioneers into the 2022 campaign.

Reining MEC Champion Wheeling University rounded out the top three with 53 points and the remaining (3) first-place votes. The Cardinals ran away with last fall’s MEC Championship by 16 strokes, led by standout performances from Emily Holzopfel, Olivia Zampedro, Nicole Lincicome and Zoila Herrera. Three of the four players will return to the course for the Cardinals this fall.

Davis & Elkins was fourth with 39 points, while Fairmont State rounded out the top five with 34 points. West Liberty finished sixth in the poll (29) and was followed by West Virginia Wesleyan (24), Concord (17) and Notre Dame (14).

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