NCAA girls’s golf preseason rankings: High groups, gamers for 2024-25

1. Stanford

Ultimate 2023-24 rank: 1

2024 NCAA Championship end: Nationwide champion (first in stroke play)

Returning: Paula Martin Sampedro (Soph.), Kelly Xu (Jr.), Megha Ganne (Jr.), Caroline Sturdza (Sr.), Yu Wen Lu (Sr.)

Departed: Rachel Heck, Sadie Englemann, Brooke Seay

Arriving: Andrea Revuelta (Fr.), Meja Ortengren (Fr.), Nora Sundberg (Fr.), Leigh Chien (Fr.)

Projected beginning lineup: Sampedro, Revuelta, Ortengren, Xu, Ganne

Scouting report: Stanford had no drawback changing Rose Zhang a season in the past because it gained its third NCAA group title within the match-play period. Now, it should change veterans Rachel Heck and Sadie Englemann, and head coach Anne Walker does so with arguably the best recruiting class in school golf historical past. Revuelta, a current runner-up on the European Girls Novice, is the ninth-ranked participant within the World Novice Golf Rating, two spots forward of the place Albane Valenzuela was when she arrived at Stanford practically a decade in the past. Revuelta has some shades of Valenzuela, an old-school expertise with an inventive thoughts and candy swing that produces a excessive, right-to-left ball flight. Ortengren has been a top-10 beginner up to now, and he or she was third on the European Girls and reached the Spherical of 16 of the Girls’s British Novice this summer time. She and fellow Swede Sundberg, No. 44 in WAGR, have been enjoying golf collectively for over a decade. Chien is without doubt one of the prime American incoming freshmen, although it is going to be robust for her to interrupt the beginning lineup this 12 months. That’s as a result of there are some standout returners as effectively, led by Sampedro, who racked up eight finishes of T-7 or higher as a freshman together with her worst end a T-16 on the Pac-12 Championship. She did all that whereas solely getting up and down about 35% of the time. She makes loads of birdies, practically 5 per spherical, so if her quick sport improves, she may problem the likes of Lottie Woad and Adela Cernousek for the Annika Award. Xu has quietly and steadily climbed the ranks, and he or she’s now a top-50 beginner, too. Ganne performed solely the U.S. Girls’s Open this summer time as meals poisoning knocked her out of the U.S. Girls’s Novice. She has a while to shake the rust off, although, for the reason that Cardinal don’t begin their fall till final September. That may also give the newcomers, who aren’t on campus but, a while to settle in. “It’s a protracted 12 months, and this would be the first 12 months that they don’t actually have an offseason,” Walker mentioned. “So, my recommendation to them was simply relaxation up. One of many issues we at all times stress right here is you don’t need to be an All-American on Day 1.” Stanford may need a pair anyway.

2. Texas

Ultimate 2023-24 rank: 8

2024 NCAA Championship end: T-11

Returning: Farah O’Keefe (Soph.), Lauren Kim (Soph.), Cindy Hsu (Jr.), Selena Liao (Soph.), Bohyun Park (Sr.), Angela Heo (Jr.), Tiffany Cao (Sr.), Emma von Hoffmann (Soph.)

Departing: Bentley Cotton

Arriving: Alisa Inprasit (Fr.)

Projected beginning lineup: O’Keefe, Kim, Hsu, Liao, Park

Scouting report: Normally when a head coach lands at a brand new college, there may be some rebuilding to do. That isn’t the case for Laura Ianello, who arrived from Arizona this summer time to exchange former coach Ryan Murphy, who was abruptly eliminated following a T-11 end on the NCAA Championship. Murphy had led the Longhorns to 3 match performs in 4 years previous to final season, in addition to 5 Huge 12 titles. That’s the expectation for Ianello with the expertise that welcomes her. “The group that I’ve inherited, I’m very blessed,” Ianello mentioned. “They’re insanely proficient. Simply the youth that we have now, I simply stay up for having these girls proceed to develop. … Huge expectations.” That expertise begins with two sophomores, O’Keefe and Kim, who mixed for six top-5s with every posting a person victory. O’Keefe in all probability ought to’ve been on the U.S. Curtis Cup group, particularly after successful the Girls’s Western Novice and reaching the Spherical of 16 on the U.S. Girls’s Novice. Kim additionally gained two matches in Tulsa, and he or she additionally gained a Canadian professional occasion shortly after NCAAs. Hsu in all probability had one of the best summer time volume-wise, successful the Girls’s Elite Novice Sequence factors race with three top-5s in these occasions whereas additionally successful finally a match at each the Girls’s British Novice and U.S. Girls’s Novice. There are some nice choices to spherical out the lineup, whether or not it’s Liao, who had two top-5s late final spring, or Heo, who reached the Spherical of 16 in Tulsa, or Park, a former top-20 world beginner who’s beginning to achieve confidence had been her re-tooled swing and grip. “She’s on the way in which again,” Ianello mentioned of Park. After which there’s the freshman, Inprasit, who signed with Arizona however lately determined to affix Ianello at Texas. As Ianello mentioned of her choice to go away her alma mater, “It felt like the proper transfer to make from the second I accepted the job.” Now, it’s time to work towards bringing Texas its first nationwide championship in girls’s golf, similar to she did as a participant for Arizona in 2000.

3. USC

Ultimate 2023-24 rank: 4

2024 NCAA Championship end: Semifinalist (fourth in stroke play)

Returning: Catherine Park (Jr.), Bailey Shoemaker (Soph.), Cindy Kou (Sr.), Joyce Jin (Jr.)

Departing: Amari Avery, Brianna Navarrosa, Christine Wang, Michaela Morard

Arriving: Jasmine Koo (Fr.), Kylie Chong (Fr.)

Projected beginning lineup: Park, Koo, Shoemaker, Chong, Kou

Scouting report: USC has now made a nationwide ultimate and semifinal up to now two seasons, and even with the early exit of Avery to the professionals, expectations haven’t modified for the Trojans. There are solely six gamers on the roster, and Jin hasn’t hit a school golf shot in three seasons due to accidents, so there is no such thing as a margin for error with USC’s beginning 5. Park led the group with three wins final season, and he or she may be one of the best iron participant within the girls’s school sport. Her wedge play has improved this summer time; she simply must make extra putts if she desires to win the Annika Award. Koo may contend for that award, too, as she arrives after a 12 months wherein she made runs on the U.S. Girls’s Novice (Spherical of 16) and U.S. Ladies’ Junior (semifinals), joined Park on the U.S. Curtis Cup group and tied for thirteenth in a serious (Chevron). Don’t sleep on the opposite freshman, although. Chong, a tireless employee, has the ceiling the place she may very well be a first-team All-American in a pair years. Shoemaker flashed her potential with a closing 66 at Augusta Nationwide in April, and he or she’s at present hitting it one of the best USC head coach Justin Silverstein has seen her hit it after switching full-time to teacher Dana Dahlquist. Kou, who definitely has made some flawed turns together with her swing after getting into school because the No. 2 freshman within the 2021 class behind Rose Zhang. She can also be working with Dahlquist. “If that’s our X-factor, we’re doing OK,” Silverstein mentioned of Kou. “After I fall again on gamers, I wish to fall again on gamers with a protracted historical past of excellent golf, and that one has an enormous ol’ CVS receipt of excellent golf. She does all of the little stuff effectively, so if we are able to simply get her ball-striking to the place it must be, she’s – I don’t need her to be a 4 or 5 participant, I would like her to be a first-teamer. … That’s how good I feel she is.” USC wouldn’t shock anyone if it boasted 5 All-People this season, however once more, there may be little room for error.

4. UCLA

Ultimate 2023-24 rank: 5

2024 NCAA Championship end: Runner-up (T-6 in stroke play)

Returning: Zoe Campos (Sr.), Caroline Canales (Sr.), Meghan Royal (Jr.), Natalie Vo (Sr.), Tiffany Le (Sr.), Jennifer Search engine marketing (Soph.)

Departing: Kate Villegas, Alessia Nobilio

Arriving: Francesca Fiorellini (Fr.), Angela Liu (Fr.)

Projected beginning lineup: Campos, Fiorellini, Canales, Royal, Vo

Scouting report: The Bruins made considerably of a shock run to a nationwide runner-up end in head coach Alicia Um Holmes’ debut season, and although Nobilio performed some large rounds in her UCLA profession, solely Villegas has departed from the beginning 5. Campos is a possible Annika Award winner after successful 4 occasions final spring. Her placing was the large enchancment final season, and based mostly on what we noticed on the U.S. Girls’s Novice, the place she made match play, and the Curtis Cup, her strategy proximity is way tighter than it’s been. Fiorellini is prime 20 on the planet beginner rankings, very straight and deadly with the putter, and will likely be counted on to be an All-American instantly, although she’ll want to regulate to U.S. golf programs having not performed over right here a ton. Canales, a mainstay in recent times for the Bruins, superior by way of pre-qualifying of Q-Faculty after taking the summer time off, however indication is that she would defer any standing she earned. Royal and Vo every accounted for 2 top-10s of their first years as Bruins, they usually possible will spherical out the beginning lineup this season. Liu is an achieved participant regionally, although it may take her a while to seek out her footing in school. The most important problem for this group, even with most everyone again, will likely be making an attempt to again up what it did final season. “I’ve been interested by what’s the message this 12 months for the group,” Holmes mentioned. “I imply, final 12 months we got here in, a bunch of transfers, a pair returners, we actually didn’t have any expectations and didn’t understand how issues had been going to go. And now, after having the season that we had final 12 months, they’re anticipating one thing to occur, like we’re a superb group, we ought to do that, or we may win this. I simply need them to concentrate on the stuff we targeted on final 12 months, enhancing each day, simply specializing in ourselves and the progress over the outcomes. I don’t suppose we have to change an excessive amount of.”

5. South Carolina

Ultimate 2023-24 rank: 6

2024 NCAA Championship end: twenty third

Returning: Louise Rydqvist (Sr.), Hannah Darling (Sr.), Maylis Lamoure (Soph.), Mia Sandtorv Lussand (Jr.), Vairana Heck (Soph.), Sophia Burnett (Sr.), Camila Burnett (Soph.)

Departing: None

Arriving: Tiffany Tsai (Fr.)

Projected beginning lineup: Rydqvist, Darling, Lamoure, Lussand, Heck

Scouting report: After reaching the ultimate eight on the 2023 NCAA Championship, the Gamecocks noticed their postseason woes resurface final season. They survived a tricky NCAA Auburn Regional by tying for fourth however then had been a non-factor at La Costa, beating simply seven of the 30 groups. Darling was subbed out after a gap 84 at nationals, and Rydqvist, who had simply been runner-up at SECs and regionals, shot 5 over and missed the lower individually as effectively. “It was only a matter of some ups and downs with the sport sadly,” South Carolina head coach Kalen Anderson mentioned. “We bought just a little rattled at regionals. The golf course hit them and bought us just a little derailed. These are issues we talked about over the summer time. It’s all a matter of timing. We have to get higher at peaking on the proper time. And it’s my job to determine methods to get them enjoying higher on the proper time.” Rydqvist gained’t be a priority, as she had a scorching summer time by successful the European Girls Novice, reaching the semifinals of the Girls’s British Novice and making three professional cuts, together with on the AIG Girls’s Open, the place she tied for sixtieth. However Darling arguably enters her ultimate season with some questions. She had a pleasant stretch final spring the place she rattled off 4 straight top-10s in beginner and school occasions, together with a co-win on the Darius Rucker. Then the postseason occurred, and he or she’s solely performed match-play occasions this summer time as she took a while off. She’ll arrive on campus after the Curtis Cup, and it stays to be seen how she handles expectations, each inner and exterior once more this season. “I feel she’s going to come back again so much stronger,” Anderson mentioned. The remainder of the lineup is acquainted, because the Gamecocks didn’t lose anyone and introduced in freshman Tiffany Tsai from Taiwan. Lamoure got here out robust as a freshman by tying for fifth on the Annika, however then she didn’t crack the highest 40 within the spring; her summer time has been significantly better, although, highlighted by a T-20 on the European Girls. Heck was T-26 on the European Girls to salvage what had been a disappointing summer time. Lussand, like Heck, has the size and birdie-making means to interrupt out this 12 months after posting 5 top-20s final season. This group could also be streaky this season, but when the again of the lineup performs to their potential, they’ve the horses to win all of it.

6. Auburn

Ultimate 2023-24 rank: 7

2024 NCAA Championship end: Quarterfinalist (eighth in stroke play)

Returning: Anna Davis (Soph.), Casey Weidenfeld (Jr.), Katie Cranston (Jr.), Carys Worby (Jr.), Rachel Gourley (Jr.)

Departed: Megan Schofill, Anna Foster, Ami Gianchandani, Ashley Sinclair-Curtis, Morgan Jones (transferred to Illinois State)

Arriving: Balma Davalos (Fr.), Anne Fernandez (Fr.)

Projected beginning lineup: Davis, Weidenfeld, Cranston, Davalos, Worby

Scouting report: When Auburn head coach Melissa Luellen appears to be like at her lineup, she’s inspired, even with the departures of leaders Schofill and Foster. “I see a ton of expertise, a youthful group with no seniors, and our freshmen are hungry and assured,” Luellen mentioned. In fact, this group, to a sure extent, will solely go so far as Davis can take them. Because the clear No. 1 for the Tigers, Davis will look to construct off her first semester of school golf. After arriving in January, she progressively bought extra snug on the subsequent stage, ending prime 10 on the Darius Rucker, runner-up at Georgia’s occasion after which bouncing again from a heartbreaking slow-play penalty at ANWA to go on a tear – fourth at SECs, win on the NCAA Auburn Regional and T-19 on the NCAA Championship to assist Auburn to match play. Davis has arguably one of the best quick sport within the girls’s sport, so if she continues to drive it like she did on the U.S. Girls’s Novice, the place she made the quarters, she’ll win greater than as soon as this season. Behind Davis is the Tigers’ emotional chief, Weidenfeld, who made some adjustments, together with switching out her irons, in a quest to enhance her ball-striking. That aspect isn’t a difficulty for Cranston, although she’s but to actually determine it out in school with only one top-10 in three semesters of play. Her ascension will likely be essential to Auburn’s success as effectively. Each freshmen will play so much. Davalos is already ranked effectively inside the highest 200 of WAGR and has eight top-10s in WAGR occasions this 12 months. Fernandez was a prolific winner earlier in her junior profession, and after six years at an academy at Albany within the Bahamas, she enrolled in summer time college and proceeded to win the Alabama Girls’s State Match Play at Auburn’s residence membership earlier than ending runner-up on the Caribbean Novice. Worby lastly has a path to enjoying time whereas Gourley may additionally break into the beginning 5 as she begins to determine her driving. Certain, there may be some inexperience on the again finish, but when Davis locks in and turns into an Annika Award contender, Auburn may make it again to match play for the fourth time up to now 5 years.

7. Arkansas

Ultimate 2023-24 rank: 10

2024 NCAA Championship end: tenth

Returning: Maria Jose Marin (soph.), Kendall Todd (Sr.), Reagan Zibilski (Jr.), Giovanna Fernandez (Sr.), Cory Lopez (Sr.), Abbey Schutte (Soph.)

Departing: Kajal Mistry, Miriam Ayora, Ela Anacona, Julia Gregg

Arriving: Clarisa Temelo (Fr.), Anna Kate Nichols (Fr.), Natalie Blonien (Fr.)

Projected beginning lineup: Marin, Todd, Zibilski, Temelo, Nichols

Scouting report: Arkansas earned a slight rankings bump by having its two finest gamers, Marin and Todd, attain the semifinals of the U.S. Girls’s Novice after every recorded large wins earlier in the summertime, Marin on the Colombian Open and Todd on the Girls’s Porter Cup. In fact, Marin’s exit from Southern Hills got here through forfeit after she sustained a left knee damage. “What an unlucky scenario to make it that far and need to forfeit your match,” Arkansas head coach Shauna Estes-Taylor mentioned, “however I feel she knew that there was the potential of one thing actually dangerous flawed, and he or she didn’t wish to jeopardize her future.” Fortunately, an MRI confirmed no structural harm, solely swelling, and Marin was practising simply days later whereas additionally being good to go for the fall-opening Carmel Cup. Nice information for the Razorbacks, who now have a legit one-two punch accomplished by Todd, whose eight top-20s final season had been only one shy of Marin. With some added confidence, Todd may take one other step ahead this season. With six U.S. Girls’s Novice qualifiers, the depth is there, too. Zibilski had 4 top-20s whereas enjoying principally out of the 5 spot as a sophomore whereas Fernandez was the postseason sub. The latter can have heavy competitors for taking part in time from the three incoming freshmen, primarily Temelo, who continues the custom of prime Mexico gamers heading to Fayetteville. After which there’s Lopez, who has performed simply two occasions up to now two years however seems lastly over a shoulder damage; she entered Q-Faculty however missed in pre-qualifier. Schutte took a medical final season due to a foot damage, and he or she will likely be eased again into issues. The management hit from the departures of Mistry and Ayora, who every performed practically each match of their careers, will likely be sizable, but when these roles are assumed, the expertise and depth are there to get again into match play for the primary time for the reason that 2019 NCAA Championship.

8. Oregon

Ultimate 2023-24 rank: 12

2024 NCAA Championship end: Semifinalist (T-6 in stroke play)

Returning: Kiara Romero (Soph.), Tiffany Huang (Soph.), Karen Tsuru (Soph.), Anika Varma (Jr.)

Departed: Ching-Tzu Chen, Minori Nagano, Ashleigh Park

Arriving: Suvichaya Vinijchaitham (Fr.), Tong An (Fr.), Darae Chung (Soph., transferred from San Jose State)

Projected beginning lineup: Romero, Vinijchaitham, Huang, Tsuru, An

Scouting report: Oregon head coach Derek Radley remembers the turning level. The Geese had misplaced Chacon, an All-American, to the professionals midseason and Park was struggling mightily together with her sport, but the Pac-12 Championship was on faucet. So, Radley met along with his group in a Pullman, Washington, resort room on the eve of the match and requested his gamers a easy query, “What number of of you could have gained a golf match?” Everybody raised their arms, together with Tsuru, a prolific winner in California who arrived at Oregon as mainly a walk-on after not entering into Stanford. “I informed them, ‘I’m sorry it took me so lengthy to determine this out, however this 5 is our greatest 5, and I want you guys to imagine in one another and purchase into one another,’” Radley mentioned. “The good factor was how these 5, despite the fact that it was for under three tournaments, actually got here collectively.” The Geese completed third at convention, second on the NCAA Auburn Regional after which made the semifinals of the NCAA Championship. Romero had top-10s in all three occasions and gained twice as a freshman final season. If she improves her wedges and quick sport, she may win the Annika Award – and he or she’ll be additional motivated after not being named to the U.S. Curtis Cup group. Tsuru didn’t make her school debut till her T-23 as a person at Silverado, however she then posted top-16s at Pac-12s and regionals. “We don’t make one other Ultimate Fore with out her,” Radley mentioned of Tsuru. Huang was delayed in beginning her school profession as effectively, enjoying simply as soon as on the finish of the autumn, and he or she underachieved with only one top-10, although that got here at regionals. The freshmen are proficient – Vinijchaitham is a tall, lanky participant who bombs it and has instant All-American potential – and each may play each occasion, although An is lastly getting over a again damage that plagued her for over a 12 months. Chung was a starter at San Jose State and switch in hoping to crack the again finish of the lineup. For as soon as, Oregon ought to have some consistency with no anticipated Q-Faculty entrants or enrollment points.

9. Arizona State

Ultimate 2023-24 rank: 15

2024 NCAA Championship end: sixteenth

Returning: Beth Coulter (Jr.), Persistence Rhodes (Soph.), Grace Summerhays (Sr.), Paula Schulz-Hanssen (Jr.)

Departing: Ashley Menne, Calynne Rosholt (transferred to Grand Canyon)

Arriving: Isla McDonald-O’Brien (Fr.)

Projected beginning lineup: Coulter, Rhodes, Summerhays, Schulz-Hanssen, McDonald-O’Brien

Scouting report: There’s loads of house within the girls’s locker room at The Hen in Tempe. That’s as a result of the Solar Devils have simply 5 gamers on their roster after graduating Menne, seeing Rosholt switch and signing only one freshman whereas additionally putting out within the portal. “We’re lean and imply,” Arizona State head coach Missy Farr-Kaye mentioned. There may be definitely plenty of expertise all through the lineup, which incorporates a pair of GB&I Curtis Cuppers in Coulter and Rhodes. Each got here on final spring with a mixed 5 top-12s. Rhodes was second on the group behind Menne on the NCAA Championship, the place Arizona State positioned sixteenth and fell only a shot shy of advancing to the ultimate spherical. Coulter had the higher summer time of the 2, ending third on the Irish Girls’s Shut Championship and made match play on the British Girls’s Novice, the place Schulz-Hanssen bought to the quarterfinals. That trio and Summerhays, who has three top-11s this summer time (together with making the Spherical of 16 on the Western), had been all initially in the identical class, so there’s a ton of camaraderie greeting the lone arrival, McDonald-O’Brien, a sparkplug from England who was lately prime 10 on the British Ladies. Retaining the competitors at residence robust will likely be a problem, however Farr-Kaye is worked up to lastly have some expertise down the road. “I really feel like we’ve been younger eternally, and now I really feel like we’re coming into our stride with maturity,” Farr-Kaye mentioned. “I’ve been ready for this group to get thus far as a result of I’d have a look at these different groups and be like, gosh, they’ve such a veteran group; I can’t look ahead to us to get to that house. And you may’t power it, you simply need to be affected person, and that’s the place we’re at now.”

10. Northwestern

Ultimate 2023-24 rank: 11

2024 NCAA Championship end: T-11

Returning: Lauryn Nguyen (Sr.), Ashley Yun (Soph.), Jiayi Wang (Jr.), Dianna Lee (Jr.), Sarah Thornton (Soph.)

Departing: Jennifer Cai, Jieni Li

Arriving: Elise Lee (Fr.), Megan Meng (Fr.), Hsin Tai Lin (Fr.)

Projected beginning lineup: Nguyen, E. Lee, Yun, Wang, Meng

Scouting report: This may very well be the Wildcats’ finest alternative to return to the ultimate eight on the NCAA Championship since they certified for back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. Nguyen is coming off a season wherein she posted six top-10s, together with a win on the Windy Metropolis Collegiate, and this summer time she gained the Washington State Novice and made match play on the U.S. Girls’s Novice. Yun, Wang and Dianna Lee all logged at the very least 9 occasions final season, with the previous two amongst Northwestern’s three finest performers at La Costa, the place the Wildcats tied for eleventh, so the expertise is there. Now add in a pair of elite freshmen – Elise Lee, who one rival coach tabbed as “a sleeper freshman … going to be a stud” and hasn’t completed worse than sixth this 12 months between junior and beginner tournaments (she was fourth on the Ladies Junior PGA and runner-up on the Girls’s Western Novice); and Meng, a two-time AJGA All-American and Junior Solheim Cupper. Stud on the prime of the lineup, good depth, proficient newcomers; Northwestern checks all of the bins.

Remainder of prime 25

11. Texas A&M: After advancing to a 3rd straight NCAA match play final season, the Aggies are as soon as once more loaded on the prime. Senior Adela Cernousek, the reigning NCAA particular person champion, has asserted herself as a power, making the U.S. Girls’s Open lower this summer time, practically doing the identical on the Evian and advancing to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Girls’s Novice. She and sophomore Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio are nearly as good a one-two punch as any, and incoming freshman Vanessa Borovilos was a top-10 machine this 12 months, from junior to professional occasions. All of it boils right down to the ultimate two lineup spots. Can Alabama switch Kynadie Adams rediscover her pre-college kind? Does Mia Nixon lastly break right into a full-time position? What is going to former prodigy Sky Sudberry deliver as a sophomore? If these questions are answered positively, Texas A&M is again in match play.

12. Mississippi State: The Bulldogs have now superior to 3 straight NCAA Championships, but they nonetheless have but to complete higher than thirteenth. That is the final likelihood with senior Julia Lopez Ramirez on the roster. The highly effective Spaniard had some bumps final season, although she managed to win twice, together with the SEC title, and put up 4 different top-10s, two of these within the postseason. She had a pleasant summer time, too, with a Spherical-of-16 look on the Girls’s British Novice and T-29 end on the AIG Girls’s Open. On paper, Ramirez’s supporting forged is stable – senior Chiara Horder, sophomore Avery Weed and junior Surapa Janthamunee all have good expertise – however Ramirez’s six top-10s final season additionally accounted for half of the group’s complete. That has to alter if the Bulldogs wish to recover from the hump in Might.

13. Michigan State: The items are there for the Spartans, ranked twenty ninth in final season’s ultimate nationwide rankings, to construct off a T-17 end on the NCAA Championship and problem for a spot within the ultimate eight. Senior Katie Lu is the lynchpin after a season wherein she compiled seven top-10s. 4 different Spartans are ranked within the prime 400 of WAGR, together with senior Brooke Biermann, Alabama switch Taylor Kehoe and incoming freshman Catalina Monroy from Colombia. That doesn’t even embrace junior Paula Balanzategui, who logged 13 occasions final season. Michigan State definitely has extra depth than most.

14. Arizona: New head coach Giovana Maymon inherits a proficient roster that misplaced solely Gile Chunk Starkute and is led by three top-200 amateurs – senior Carolina Melgrati, junior Nena Wongthanavimok and sophomore Charlotte Again. Senior Lilas Pinthier and junior Julia Misemer are additionally nonetheless round, they usually’ve mixed for twenty-four top-20s of their school careers. Sophomore Maria Cabanillas is a wild card, as she’s performed simply two school occasions however has been dominant in South America. The Wildcats shouldn’t have any hassle getting again to the NCAA Championship after lacking final spring.

15. Wake Forest: That is overseas territory for the Demon Deacons, who gained all of it two seasons in the past and have persistently been a top-5 group beneath head coach Kim Lewellen. The issue is Rachel Kuehn is gone, a departure that leaves sizable holes each on and off the course. Sophomore Macy Pate is lower from an analogous fabric and is poised to launch after a debut season that featured seven top-15s. Pate is certainly one of simply three returners, together with senior Carolina Chacarra, who arguably took a step again final 12 months due to damage, and junior Anne-Sterre den Dunnen, who didn’t make the postseason lineup final season however did top-10 on the European Girls this summer time. Freshman Denisa Vodickova is proficient sufficient to step in instantly, which is an effective factor; Wake will want it.

16. Florida State: In the event you didn’t know by now, junior Lottie Woad is de facto, actually good. The world’s top-ranked beginner didn’t end worse than eighth in school begins final season. In fact, she’s shined brighter exterior of school, successful the Augusta Nationwide Girls’s Novice and making cuts on the Chevron (T-23) and AIG Girls’s Open (T-10). Add in fellow junior Mirabel Ting, who’s recovered after falling over the summer time, and the Seminoles have among the finest one-two punches within the nation. The difficulty comes after that because the departures of Charlotte Heath and Alice Hodge depart some gaps and the following three highest-ranked gamers on the roster are all freshmen, a first-year group headlined by England’s Sophia Fullbrook.

17. LSU: Talking of dropping expertise, no program misplaced greater than the Tigers, which noticed the departure of Annika Award winner Ingrid Lindblad, plus graduates Latanna Stone and Carla Tejedo. Nobody is changing Lindblad’s 15 profession wins and 42 top-10s. However bringing in freshman Rocio Tejedo, Carla’s sister, is large. The youthful Tejedo is a top-40 beginner who made the Spherical of 16 on the U.S. Girls’s Novice. Her presence mixed with the management of Aine Donegan will present some stability to a roster that’s in any other case stuffed with query marks, albeit gamers with some potential.

18. Florida: The Gators are certainly one of only a handful applications that may boast 5 top-400 amateurs on the planet. A type of is sophomore Ines Archer, who posted six top-25s final season and has first-team All-SEC potential, and three are freshmen – Elaine Widjaja, Siuue Wu and Addison Klonowski, who enrolled final spring and redshirted. Regardless of the rankings, there may be nonetheless the large elephant within the room: Florida hasn’t performed an NCAA Championship since 2019.

19. Clemson: The Tigers are driving excessive after advancing to NCAA match play for the primary time in program historical past. Nevertheless, now they have to change all-everything Annabelle Pancake and her 71.27 scoring common. Junior Chloe Holder had only one fewer top-10 than Pancake final season with three, and he or she’s primed to take over the No. 1 spot. Additionally be careful for freshman Aitana Tuesta from Peru. Accidents to junior Isabella Rawl and senior Melena Barrientos knock Clemson’s rating down just a few spots, however as soon as they’re again, which ought to be quickly, the Tigers ought to climb a bit.

20. Virginia: The Cavaliers bought to La Costa, however a solo twenty eighth left a lot to be desired. That is Amanda Sambach’s ultimate 12 months after posting 5 top-5s as a junior. She solely performed the Palmer Cup and U.S. Girls’s Novice (misplaced in Spherical of 64) this summer time as she spent a number of weeks finding out overseas in Spain. Seniors Rebecca Skoler and Megan Propeck, in addition to sophomore Jaclyn Laha, are again after every logged 11 occasions final season, although they must struggle for beginning spots after the arrival of freshman Kennedy Swedick and Notre Dame switch Chloe Schiavone.

21. Kansas: The Jayhawks hold enhancing beneath head coach Lindsay Kuhle, who’s getting into her fourth season after main Kansas to a sixth-place end on the NCAA Cle Elum Regional. The following step is apparent, and this group is constructed to get to the NCAA Championship. The senior trio of Jordan Rothman, Lauren Clark and Lily Hirst mixed for 11 top-10s final season, and all three return. Freshman Ebba Nordstedt from Sweden ought to make an instantaneous affect as effectively.

22. Duke: After ending 14th at nationals, the Blue Devils must change three key gamers in Phoebe Brinker, Anne Chen and Emma McMyler, and far of that can fall on sophomore Katie Li, a extremely rated recruit who notched only one top-10 as a freshman, albeit a win at Florida State’s residence occasion. Junior Andie Smith heated up towards the top of final season with 4 straight top-20s capped by a solo seventh on the NCAA Cle Elum Regional. Freshmen Anna Canado Espinal and Carla de Troia will get probabilities to start out each match, as will senior Rylie Heflin, who made the beginning 5 simply as soon as final season.

23. Vanderbilt: Gone are affect gamers Celina Sattelkau and Virginie Ding, however a stable prime 4 – prime 5 in case you think about freshman Angelina Tolentino‘s T-4 on the fall-opening Carmel Cup, which Vandy gained – stays in juniors Tillie Claggett and Lynn Lim, and sophomores Ava Merrill and Sara Im. Is it sufficient to interrupt into the fourth day of nationals after three straight finishes within the 20s on the NCAA Championship? It is going to take some work.

24. Ole Miss: Among the many slew of exits had been Andrea Lignell, Justin Fournand and Natacha Host Husted, so the Rebels have some voids to fill. Senior Caitlyn Macnab is locked in because the No. 1 after successful twice, together with the NCAA Bermuda Run Regional, whereas including seven different top-12s. Other than Macnab, solely sophomore Sophie Linder has recorded a top-10 in school, although freshman Kajsalotta Svarvar will likely be among the many finest newcomers within the SEC.

25. UCF: It was a story of two semesters, because the Knights gained twice within the fall however then went eighth at Huge 12s and ninth at regionals to finish their season. Jess Baker was among the many notable departures, however UCF’s two finest gamers are again in Sandwich Sisutham and Molly Smith, who mixed for six top-5s final season (Smith was second this summer time in WEAGS factors), and two freshmen, Jamie Camero and Mila Jurine, are already prime 500 in WAGR.

The listing

TOP 25
1. Stanford
2. Texas
3. USC
4. UCLA
5. South Carolina
6. Auburn
7. Arkansas
8. Oregon
9. Arizona State
10. Northwestern
11. Texas A&M
12. Mississippi State
13. Michigan State
14. Arizona
15. Wake Forest
16. Florida State
17. LSU
18. Florida
19. Clemson
20. Virginia
21. Kansas
22. Duke
23. Vanderbilt
24. Ole Miss
25. UCF

NEXT 10
26. Pepperdine
27. Baylor
28. Oklahoma State
29. Cal
30. Georgia Southern
31. TCU
32. SMU
33. Houston
33. Tennessee
34. North Carolina
35. Ohio State

Preseason All-People

FIRST TEAM
1. Lottie Woad, Florida State
2. Adela Cernousek, Texas A&M
3. Julia Lopez Ramirez, Mississippi State
4. Zoe Campos, UCLA
5. Catherine Park, USC
6. Anna Davis, Auburn
7. Kiara Romero, Oregon
8. Paula Martin Sampedro, Stanford
9. Jasmine Koo, USC
10. Louise Rydqvist, South Carolina

SECOND TEAM
11. Andrea Revuelta, Stanford
12. Maria Jose Marin, Arkansas
13. Farah O’Keefe, Texas
14. Lauren Kim, Texas
15. Meja Ortengren, Stanford
16. Amanda Sambach, Virginia
17. Cayetana Fernandez Garcia-Poggio, Texas A&M
18. Macy Pate, Wake Forest
19. Bailey Shoemaker, USC
20. Kelly Xu, Stanford

THIRD TEAM
21. Rocio Tejedo, LSU
22. Carolina Chacarra, Wake Forest
23. Hannah Darling, South Carolina
24. Francesca Fiorellini, UCLA
25. Mirabel Ting, Florida State
26. Caroline Canales, UCLA
27. Caitlyn Macnab, Ole Miss
28. Lauryn Nguyen, Northwestern
29. Casey Weidenfeld, Auburn
30. Carla Bernat, Kansas State

HONORABLE MENTION
31. Cindy Hsu, Texas
32. Beth Coulter, Arizona State
33. Jeneath Wong, Pepperdine
34. Megha Ganne, Stanford
35. Persistence Rhodes, Arizona State
36. Katie Lu, Michigan State
37. Emma Bunch, New Mexico State
38. Vanessa Borovilos, Texas A&M
39. Mackenzie Lee, SMU
40. Sandwich Sisutham, UCF