Feb. 18, 2010

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The Great West Conference softball coaches have picked South Dakota as the favorite to win the inaugural conference softball championship. The preseason poll was announced Thursday by the league office.

South Dakota received two first-place votes and a total of 14 points. Utah Valley came in second in the voting with 10 points, followed closely by North Dakota with nine points. Houston Baptist rounded out the poll with seven points.

The 2010 Great West Conference champion will be crowned at the GWC softball tournament held May 15-17 at Farmers Branch, Texas, and will be hosted by Houston Baptist University. Seeding will be determined by a cluster tournament held March 26-28, also at Farmers Branch, Texas.