Mars Hill, Queens Lead SAC Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Poll

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Mars Hill and Queens have tied for the top position in the inaugural SAC men's lacrosse preseason coaches' poll, the conference announced on Wednesday.

2014 marks the first year of men's lacrosse being sponsored as a championship sport in the SAC. Eight of the conferences' 12 member schools will compete in the sport this season.

Mars Hill earned four first-place votes in the preseason poll, while Queens received three. Mars Hill went 11-3 last season as an independent, and Queens finished 7-7 overall and third in the Conference Carolinas standings at 4-2.

Catawba is third in the poll, followed by No. 4 Lenoir-Rhyne - which received the final first-place vote – No. 5 Coker and No. 6 Wingate.

Completing the poll are Tusculum at No. 7 and Brevard at No. 8.

Also revealed on Wednesday was the preseason All-SAC Team. 12 student-athletes were named to the First Team, including Catawba's John Scheich, Mars Hill's Jimmy McBride and Coker's Ryan Maurer at attacker.

That trio is joined by Mars Hill's Anthony Malcolm, Lenoir-Rhyne's Tyler Kotch and L-R's Sam Ashton at midfielder, and Queens' Patrick Murphy, Catawba's Gage Mason and Lenoir-Rhyne's Stephen O'Hara at defender.

Mars Hill's Tanner Leach is the first-team's long-pole midfielder, Catawba's Daniel Rew is the team's specialist, and Mars Hill's Patrick McMahon is its goalkeeper.

Making up the attackers on the Second Team are Wingate's Ryan Vogrig and Queens' Garrett Chan and Casey Hock, while Lenoir-Rhyne's Imari Davis, Wingate's Bryce Sneed and Coker's Timothy Smith are the second-team midfielders.

Rounding out the Second Team are Queens's Patrick Thomas, Coker's Max Baltzer and Coker's Jim Elliott at defender, Queens' Tim Cloud at long-pole midfielder, Queen's Kenneth Stryker at specialist and Coker's Tim Ryan at goalkeeper.

The inaugural Food Lion SAC Lacrosse Championship will take place April 17-19 on the Queens campus in Charlotte, N.C.

2014 SAC Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches' Poll

2014 SAC Men's Lacrosse Preseason All-Conference Team

First Team Attacker

John Scheich, CAT

Jimmy McBride, MHU

Ryan Maurer, COK

First Team Midfielder

Anthony Malcolm, MHU

Tyler Kotch, L-R

Sam Ashton, L-R

First Team Defender

Patrick Murphy, QU

Gage Mason, CAT

Stephen O'Hara, L-R

First Team Long Pole Midfielder

Tanner Leach, MHU

First Team Specialist

Daniel Rew, CAT

First Team Goalkeeper

Patrick McMahon, MHU

Second Team Attacker

Ryan Vogrig, WU

Garrett Chan, QU

Casey Hock, QU

Second Team Midfielder

Imari Davis, L-R

Bryce Sneed, WU

Timothy Smith, COK

Second Team Defender

Patrick Thomas, QU

Max Baltzer, COK

Jim Elliott, COK

Second Team Long Pole Midfielder

Tim Cloud, QU

Second Team Specialist

Kenneth Stryker, QU

Second Team Goalkeeper

Tim Ryan, COK