The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced the 2026-27 women’s golf preseason coaches’ poll on Tuesday afternoon in addition to the 2026-27 Preseason All-RMAC Team. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a season where they finished ninth in the RMAC at the RMAC Championships, but made up a ton of ground on the field. The Yellow Jackets were placed at ninth place this year in the RMAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll with 18 points ahead of Adams State and behind a tie for seventh between South Dakota Mines and Fort Lewis.
The Yellow Jackets are entering the fourth year of the head coach Randy Doran era and have improved year over year. BHSU now has 12 individual round top ten records since Doran took over, nine of the top 11 18-hole team scores are from the last four years, seven of the top 11 36-hole team scores, and four of the top ten 36-hole scores. Out of all the players in the BHSU Women’s Golf D2 era, five of the top ten individual season stroke average leaders have come since 2024.
The Yellow Jackets have two returners from their team last season: Shelbi Gardner and Ava Kalanek. Gardner just broke the school’s D2 era record for lowest individual season stroke average for a freshman in the D2 era with an average of 83.44 per 18 holes. She is sixth in the D2 era history overall since BHSU joined the NCAA Division II. Her 159 (77-82) at the Swan Memorial last year is tied for the seventh lowest 36-hole score in the Division II era and that 77 is tied for the eighth lowest in the school’s D2 era. Ava Kalanek only played in one tournament last year: Swan Memorial, where she shot a 163 (83-80) over two days and finished in a tie for 45th. Kalanek holds the school D2 record for 18-hole score (73 in round on at the 2023 Swan Memorial) and 54-hole score (243 (73-86-84) at the 2023 Swan Memorial).
The Yellow Jackets will have four new additions to the team this year with three freshman and one transfer. Cheyenne Shade, the sole transfer, is a junior from Central Wyoming and was ranked #108 nationally in the NJCAA I and #2 in her region with an 85.12 stroke average. She had four top ten finishes in seven tournaments including a third-place finish at her home meet and a fifth-place finish at the Region XI NJC Women Invite. The three freshman joining the team are Madison Brown (Evanston, Wyo.), Reagan Hatling (Belle Fourche, S.D.), and Megan Robb (South Heart, N.D.). Brown is the reigning Wyoming 4A state champion and shot a 159 (80-79) at state to take it home. She was a two-time All-Conference and All-State player after finishing sixth at state her junior year. Hatling is coming off an All-Conference season at Belle Fourche High School and finished tied for 36th at SDHSAA State As last year. Robb, who was one of the best golfers in North Dakota last year, had five individual wins and finished in fourth place, just one shot shy of a tie for second last year at state. She shot a 154 (+10) and was named All-State. She was also the region champion.
BHSU will begin their season at the Travis Roy Memorial Invite on September 13-15 at the Powderhorn Golf Club in Sheridan, Wyoming.
