The Dalton State women’s golf team was picked by all the Southern States Athletic Conference coaches to win the nine-team league in the school’s first year of postseason eligibility, and the men’s team was picked second behind defending NAIA champion Coastal Georgia. The Brunswick team also was a unanimous choice for first, out of 11 teams. Coach Ben Rickett’s Roadrunners were next after finishing no lower than fifth in their fall-semester tournaments. Jim McGrew’s female Roadrunners, ranked 10th in the NAIA preseason poll, likewise were fifth or better in all four of their fall events, with an adjusted scoring average of 78.55 that was the eighth best in the NAIA. William Carey (79.11) was picked second with Mobile third and Loyola (La.) fourth. “We are extremely appreciative and honored that the coaches would rank us No. 1 in the preseason poll,” McGrew said in a DSC release. “We also understand that this is an extremely talented conference and ultimately the champion will be determined on the course. We have plenty of work left to be done from now until April.”
Basketball
* Dalton State had slipped from eighth to 12th in the NAIA Division I men’s basketball poll but zoomed back to eighth when this week’s listing came out Tuesday. The Roadrunners are 20-3 in their second season and host SSAC games Thursday and Saturday nights against Middle Georgia State and league-leading Martin Methodist (21-3, 11-2), which is tied for 12th in the poll.
* Colton McGriff scored 22 points and TJ Cox had 13 points and 11 assists as Covenant College beat visiting Berry 81-65 in nonconference NCAA Division III basketball Tuesday night. McGriff had 15 of his points in the first half, when the Scots took a 39-19 lead. He was 9-of-11 from the field for the game. Will Portlock scored 12 points and Chris Boyd added 11 for Covenant (7-14), which was 0-for-6 on 3-point shots. Tyler Harville made six 3s and scored 24 points for Berry (7-14), which got 11 points and 13 rebounds from freshman Lukas Korn from Walker Valley.
Baseball