The St. Mary’s Softball team is ranked fourth in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Top 25 poll. The NFCA poll, released a week after the conclusion of the national tournament, is voted on by eight NCAA Division II head coaches representing the eight Div. II regions.
The Rattlers started the 2003 season ranked first, dropped to 10th by mid-season and entered the post-season ranked fourth. St. Mary’s snared the top spot in the final 2002 NFCA poll after winning the 2002 Div. II national tournament and was ranked 20th in the 2001 post-season poll after falling in the regional finals of the 2001 national tournament.

St. Mary’s won their third-straight Heartland Conference championship this season en route to a third-straight national tournament appearance. The Rattlers hosted and won the tournament’s South Central Regional to advance to the championship finals in Salem, Ore., where they lost in the semi-finals to UC Davis, the eventual national champions. St. Mary’s ended with a 50-12 record – their second consecutive 50-win season. Rattler ace Kym Kling, the Div. II Softball Player of the Year and a first-team All-American for the second time, finished with a 31-4 record. Kling, a junior from San Antonio, now has an amazing 66-9 record as a Rattler. She had a 4-8 record as a freshman at Div. I Stephen F. Austin University in 2001.

Top 25 poll results from throughout the 2003 season for all three NCAA division can be found at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association website.

Final 2003 NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll
Rank Team Points Last Week
1. California-Davis (5) 125 17
2 Georgia College and State University 120 12
3. North Dakota State 114 3
4. St. Mary’s 111 4
5. LeMoyne 99 9
6. West Florida 97 7
7. Shippensburg 94 24
8. North Florida 88 2
9. Wayne State 86 16
10. Barry 80 1
11. Cal State Bakersfield 78 13
12. St. Cloud State 71 NR
13. Angelo State 61 8
14. Bloomsburg 58 14
(tie) Grand Valley State 58 6
16. Armstrong Atlantic State 52 NR
17. Nebraska-Omaha 41 11
18. Alabama-Huntsville 35 19
19. California (PA) 31 10
(tie) Humboldt State 31 NR
21. Ashland 25 NR
22. Kennesaw State 21 15
23. Long Island-C.W. Post 20 20
24. Southeastern Oklahoma 19 NR
25.
Western New Mexico
 7 5

Others receiving votes: Columbus State 5, Valdosta State 3, Adelphi 2, Texas
A&M-Kingsville 1, West Virginia Wesleyan 1, Winona State 1.

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