Lacrosse Magazine Releases College Preseason Rankings, Honorees


BALTIMORE — Lacrosse Magazine, the flagship publication of US Lacrosse, today announced its 2012 preseason college team rankings and preseason players of the year.

The rankings, compiled by Lacrosse Magazine staff after consultations with coaches, predict the champions of 12 divisions of college play, including the NCAA, the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA), the US Lacrosse Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

The magazine tabbed defending NCAA Division I champions Virginia men and Northwestern women to repeat in 2012, alongside defending Division II men’s champion Mercyhurst and Division III champions Salisbury men and Gettysburg women. Le Moyne earned the preseason No. 1 ranking in NCAA Division II women.

Lacrosse Magazine also honored 12 student-athletes as the best lacrosse players in their respective divisions, including 2011 women’s Tewaaraton Award winner Shannon Smith of Northwestern and men’s award finalist Rob Pannell of Cornell.

The rankings and preseason honorees appear below and are profiled in the January issue of Lacrosse Magazine. Expanded college previews will run in the February issue. Lacrosse Magazine’s Internet home, LaxMagazine.com, will have more coverage of the players and teams featured in January and throughout the 2012 college season.

NCAA Division I Men

1. Virginia
2. Duke
3. Johns Hopkins
4. Cornell
5. Denver
6. North Carolina
7. Maryland
8. Syracuse
9. Notre Dame
10. Villanova
11. Harvard
12. Massachusetts
13. Princeton
14. Penn State
15. Penn
16. Bucknell
17. Yale
18. Hofstra
19. Loyola
20. Ohio State

Preseason Player of the Year: Rob Pannell, Cornell

NCAA Division I Women

1. Northwestern
2. Maryland
3. North Carolina
4. Duke
5. Florida
6. Virginia
7. Princeton
8. Boston College
9. Stanford
10. Loyola
11. James Madison
12. Penn
13. Dartmouth
14. Syracuse
15. Penn State
16. Vanderbilt
17. Georgetown
18. Notre Dame
19. Albany
20. Harvard

Preseason Player of the Year: Shannon Smith, Northwestern

NCAA Division II Men

1. Mercyhurst
2. Adelphi
3. Limestone
4. C.W. Post
5. Le Moyne
6. Dowling
7. NYIT
8. Mercy
9. Merrimack
10. Pfeiffer

Preseason Player of the Year: Shayne Jackson, Limestone

NCAA Division II Women

1. Le Moyne
2. Adelphi
3. C.W. Post
4. Dowling
5. Limestone
6. West Chester
7. Lock Haven
8. Stonehill
9. Rollins
10. New Haven

Preseason Player of the Year: Erica Devito, Adelphi

NCAA Division III Men

1. Salisbury
2. Tufts
3. Roanoke
4. Dickinson
5. RIT
6. Cortland
7. Stevenson
8. Amherst
9. Stevens
10. Middlebury
11. Denison
12. Gettysburg
13. Union
14. Endicott
15. Lynchburg
16. Cabrini
17. Nazareth
18. Haverford
19. RPI
20. Trinity

Preseason Player of the Year: Sam Bradman, Salibury

NCAA Division III Women

1. Gettysburg
2. TCNJ
3. Cortland
4. Hamilton
5. Franklin and Marshall
6. Salisbury
7. Trinity
8. Middlebury
9. Bowdoin
10. Tufts
11. Colby
12. Messiah
13. Amherst
14. Washington and Lee
15. Stevens
16. Catholic
17. Bates
18. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
19. Adrian
20. Ithaca

Preseason Player of the Year: Leigh Mitchell, TCNJ

MCLA Division I

1. Brigham Young
2. Arizona State
3. Chapman
4. Colorado State
5. Michigan State
6. Boston College
7. Cal Poly
8. Florida State
9. Oregon
10. Buffalo
11. Colorado
12. UCSB
13. Texas
14. Clemson
15. Minnesota-Duluth
16. Virginia Tech
17. Simon Fraser
18. Illinois
19. Utah
20. Central Florida

Preseason Player of the Year: Dylan Westfall, Arizona State

US Lacrosse WCLA Division I

1. Colorado State
2. UC Davis Club
3. Colorado
4. Santa Clara
5. UCLA
6. Florida Club
7. UC Santa Barbara
8. Cal Poly
9. Michigan
10. Brigham Young
11. Georgia
12. Texas
13. Maryland Club
14. Pittsburgh
15. Virginia Tech Club
16. Boston College Club
17. Virginia Club
18. Washington
19. Arizona State
20. Central Florida

Preseason Player of the Year: Clayton Crum, Texas

MCLA Division II

1. Davenport
2. St. Thomas
3. Dayton
4. Grand Valley State
5. St. John’s
6. Briarcliffe
7. Westminster
8. SCAD
9. Western Oregon
10. North Dakota State
11. Northern Colorado
12. Utah Valley
13. Cal State Fullerton
14. Hope
15. Elon
16. Missouri Baptist
17. Sam Houston State
18. Concordia (Calif.)
19. Kennesaw State
20. Coast Guard

Preseason Player of the Year: Matt Dowd, Dayton

US Lacrosse WCLA Division II

1. Towson Club
2. Utah
3. Westminster
4. Southern Methodist
5. Minnesota-Duluth
6. Oakland
7. James Madison Club
8. Wisconsin-River Falls
9. North Carolina Club
10. Denver Club
11. Loyola Club
12. University of Nevada-Las Vegas
13. St. Benedict
14. University of Nevada-Reno
15. Wyoming
16. West Virginia
17. Cal State University-Long Beach
18. Stanford Club
19. Western Washington
20. Ithaca Club

Preseason Player of the Year: Chelsea Farrell, Westminster

NJCAA Men

1. Onondaga
2. Essex
3. Nassau
4. Genesee
5. Suffolk
6. Monroe
7. Harford
8. Brookdale
9. Broome
10. Mercyhurst Northeast

Preseason Player of the Year: Tom Klosowski, Onondaga

NJCAA Women

1. Monroe
2. Anne Arundel
3. Catonsville
4. Onondaga
5. Harford
6. Howard
7. Herkimer
8. Mohawk Valley
9. Nassau
10. Brookdale

Preseason Player of the Year: Mary Milligan, Anne Arundel

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