CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State women's golf has been picked to finish sixth out of 10 RMAC teams in the 2024-2025 season, according to the preseason poll released by the conference office on Thursday.

The RMAC preseason poll is based on a vote of the league's head coaches, who each rank their conference opponents without voting for their own program. The Eagles finished in sixth place as a team in last April's RMAC Women's Golf Championship.

Defending conference champion CSU Pueblo topped the preseason poll, garnering eight of 10 first-place votes. Colorado Christian was second in the poll despite not receiving a first-place vote, while Colorado Mesa got the other two first-place nods but finished third.

MSU Denver and Westminster round out the top five. After the Eagles in sixth, the poll is rounded out by South Dakota Mines, Fort Lewis, Black Hills State and Adams State.

Chadron State will get its season underway this upcoming Monday and Tuesday at the Battle at Bayside in Brule, Nebraska, hosted by the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The Eagles will be the only RMAC school competing at that event but will face plenty of in-state competition with CSC, UNK, Wayne State and Concordia University Nebraska all among the seven schools on the entry list.

The Eagles will have a new-look lineup this season under head coach John Ritzen, after losing four of their five scoring golfers at the RMAC Championship to graduation, including First Team All-RMAC golfer and top-five individual RMAC Championship finisher Jordan Grasis.

Aubree Heinsma, a junior from Windsor, Colorado, is the only returning member of last year's conference tournament lineup. As a sophomore, Heinsma finished 39^th at the RMAC Championships with a 54-hole score of 250. Peyton Wise, a junior from Kimball, Nebraska, also figures to factor into the scoring on a regular basis after challenging Heinsma for the number five spot last year.

Beyond the two juniors, the CSC roster features five freshmen who will have an opportunity to make their mark on the lineup early. The first-year Eagles include one international golfer in Leipzig, Germany native Klara Kleinig as well as Colorado natives Allison Sanger and Brooklyn Tychsen and Wyoming natives Jecember Meade and Maggie Teague.

Chadron State is scheduled to compete four times during the fall season. After this Monday and Tuesday, the Eagles will golf at the Hardrocker Invite hosted by South Dakota Mines on September 16-17, the Mustang Invite hosted by Southwest Minnesota State on September 28-29 and the Samuel Proal Invite hosted by CSU Pueblo on October 7-8.