Arkansas Tech University is part of the upper echelon in the 2016 Great American Conference preseason softball poll, which was released by the league office on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
The Golden Suns received 89 points to place fifth in the preseason poll, just behind third-place Southern Arkansas University (98 points) and fourth-place Southeastern Oklahoma State University (90 points).
East Central University, the 2015 GAC Tournament champion in softball, is the preseason favorite to win the 2016 conference title. The Tigers earned six first-place votes and 113 points in the poll.
Henderson State University, the 2015 GAC regular season champion, is second in the 2016 preseason poll. The Reddies received five first-place votes and 104 points.
Harding University (6th, 71 points), Southern Nazarene University (7th, 61 points), the University of Arkansas-Monticello (8th, 60 points), Northwestern Oklahoma State University (9th, 32 points), Southwestern Oklahoma State University (10th, 28 points), Ouachita Baptist University (11th, 26 points) and Oklahoma Baptist University (12th, 20 points) complete the 2016 GAC preseason softball poll.
Kristina McSweeney will be in her fourth season as the head softball coach at Arkansas Tech in 2016. She led the Golden Suns to 41 wins — tied for second-most in a season in program history — and their first-ever NCAA Division II Softball Tournament appearance during the 2015 season.
Arkansas Tech will begin the 2016 softball season by competing in the Southeastern Shootout Feb. 5-7 in Durant, Okla.
