INDIANAPOLIS – Defending champion Seton Hill is positioned at the top of the 2018 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour that was released on Friday.
 
Eight institutions, including three associate members (Seton Hill, Mercyhurst, Wheeling Jesuit), were included in this year’s balloting by the league’s coaches. The 2018 season represents Wheeling Jesuit’s first year of Great Midwest competition.
 
Full member institutions Alderson Broaddus, Davis & Elkins, Lake Erie, Ohio Valley and Walsh, were also part of the conference’s inaugural sport offering last year in 2017.
 
The Griffins of Seton Hill were the unanimous selection to finish at the top of the league standings this spring (schools cannot vote for themselves) with a total of six first-place votes.
 
Seton Hill toppled Mercyhurst in last year’s rain-soaked G-MAC Championship final by a score of 15-10. SHU went into the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the four-team bracket, but emerged to rise as champion in Erie, PA.
 
The Griffins, under the direction of head coach Brian Novotny, retain six all-conference performers from a year ago, including Great Midwest Freshman of the Year Jay Scerbo and three standouts on the first team (Bennett Johnson, Jack Moran, Brett Craig).
 
The overall voting was very close as Mercyhurst opens the spring as the preseason runner-up with 44 points and the other possible first-place vote. Seton Hill received a total of 48 points as the preseason favorite.
 
Lake Erie checks in at third to start the season with 35 points followed by league newcomer Wheeling Jesuit in fourth with 33 points. Walsh earned fifth by one point over Davis & Elkins while Alderson Broaddus and Ohio Valley were tabbed seventh and eighth, respectively.
 
The NIKE/US Lacrosse Division II Top 20 preseason rankings had three Great Midwest schools make an appearance with Seton Hill at No. 10, Mercyhurst polled at No. 13 and Lake Erie checking in at No. 15.
 
The Great Midwest underwent a few offseason changes with the league now aligned in the North Region. A total of 33 schools from the Great Midwest, Northeast-10 Conference, East Coast Conference and Central Athletic Collegiate Conference, will compete for at-large bids to the NCAA Championship.
 
In addition, Lee Spitzer was hired as the Great Midwest coordinator of men’s lacrosse officials in the offseason.
 
The conference is working with each institution for a comprehensive season preview that will be published one week before the start for the regular season. 

2018 Great Midwest Men's Lacrosse Preseason Coaches Poll presented by Under Armour
 

School	Points
1. Seton Hill (6 first-place votes)	48
2. Mercyhurst (1 first-place vote)	44
3. Lake Erie	35
4. Wheeling Jesuit	33
5. Walsh	21
6. Davis & Elkins	20
7. Alderson Broaddus	12
8. Ohio Valley	11