LINK TO NSIC PRESEASON POLL
MINOT, N.D. – While the NSIC golf championships won't be decided until April, action on the links begins in the coming weeks, so the league announced its preseason rankings and Players of the Year today.
Voted on by the league's coaches, the Minot State women's golf team was picked to finish 10
th in the 2025-26 NSIC Preseason Women's Golf Coaches' Poll, while senior
Zoe Banack was highlighted as the Player to Watch for the Beavers.
The Beavers open the season on Monday and Tuesday, September 8-9, at the Tracy Lane Memorial hosted by Bemidji State. Minot State plays five events in the fall, then after the winter break, returns for two more months of action in the spring with the NSIC Championship in Blue Springs, Missouri, April 22-24.
Minot State will be under the guidance of first-year head coach Gary "Dakota" Brekhus, who moves into that role after spending the last two seasons as an assistant coach for the Beavers.
"I think the most exciting thing about this year's team is getting to see a new perspective as a first-year head coach," Brekus said. "We have some incredibly talented young ladies on our roster, and I'm excited to see what both the new and returning players are going to bring this year! With an almost completely new roster, I believe these ladies might surprise the conference."
The Beavers, who finished 6
th at last spring's NSIC Championship, collected 46 points in the Coaches' Poll to land at No. 10.
Minnesota State, Mankato was favored to repeat as NSIC Champions with 131 points and 9 first-place votes, while Augustana was picked second with 122 points and 1 first-place vote. Winona State was picked third with 113 points, Sioux Falls was selected fourth with 109 points and 1 first-place vote, and Wayne State was picked fifth with 106 points and the final first-place vote.
Concordia, St. Paul landed at sixth with 86 points, Southwest Minnesota State was seventh with 78 points, Minnesota Crookston was eighth with 61 points, Mary was ninth with 58 points, Minot State was 10
th with 46 points, Jamestown was 11
th with 42 points, Minnesota State Moorhead was 12
th with 37 points, and Bemidji State was 13
th with 25 points.
While the Beavers were picked 10
th, Banack, Minot State's top returning finisher at the NSIC Championship, was named as a Player to Watch. Banack finished 45
th at the NSIC Championship in April, shooting a 43-over 259, and carded a career-best 78 at The Watkins Fall Invitational last season.
"Zoe has been a key player over the last three years for the Beavers," Brekhus said. "Her consistency and work ethic, both on and off the course, have been monumental to the team's success and morale. She is coming off a record-setting year where the team shot a 3-day total score of 979 to set the school's low scoring record in the NSIC Conference Championship, finishing sixth. She intends to build on that success and help lead the team to more great finishes in her final year at Minot State."
Augustana senior Lanie Veenendall, who was named last season's Player of the Year, was voted as the 2025-26 Preseason Player of the Year by the NSIC's coaches.
NSIC 2025-26 Preseason Women's Golf Coaches' Poll
| RANK |
TEAM (1st-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
Minnesota State, Mankato (9) |
131 |
| 2 |
Augustana (1) |
122 |
| 3 |
Winona State |
113 |
| 4 |
Sioux Falls (1) |
109 |
| 5 |
Wayne State (1) |
106 |
| 6 |
Concordia, St. Paul |
86 |
| 7 |
Southwest Minnesota State |
78 |
| 8 |
Minnesota Crookston |
61 |
| 9 |
Mary |
68 |
| 10 |
Minot State |
46 |
| 11 |
Jamestown |
42 |
| 12 |
Minnesota State Moorhead |
37 |
| 13 |
Bemidji State |
25 |
