The University of Charleston has been selected fourth in West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Pre-season Coaches Poll, released by the WVIAC.

Charleston, an annual contender for league and regional honors, is led by Brandon Reece and 2006 NCAA Tournament individual qualifier Michael Todd.

Ohio Valley University was the overwhelming choice of West Virginia Conference coaches to earn the league's 2006-07 men's golf championship. The Fighting Scots received 9 of 13 first place votes to outdistance defending NCAA Division II East Region champion Concord.

2006 WVIAC champion Fairmont State was third in the voting, followed by Charleston and four-time conference runner-up West Liberty State. West Virginia Wesleyan, Wheeling Jesuit, Shepherd, and West Virginia State hold down the sixth through ninth spots. Salem International, Glenville State, Davis & Elkins, and Bluefield State round out the poll.

New conference members Pitt Johnstown and Seton Hill will be eligible for individual honors at this spring's WVIAC Championship, but will not be in the hunt for a team title.

Ohio Valley, who completed the 2005-06 regular season as the top team in the East Region, is led by returning first team All-WVIAC selections Ben Harwood and J.C. Beecroft. Senior captain Greg Lemenchick is also back for Larry Lyons' Fighting Scots.

Concord must replace three starters from a team that 16th nationally last season. The Mountain Lions need another year of low scores from 2005-06 WVIAC Golfer of the Year Darcy Donaldson, who led the East Region with a 73.2 stroke average.

Fairmont State continued to emerge as a regional power last season as the Falcons won their first WVIAC title since 1992. WVIAC Championship medalist Jon Burnside is the top returnee for two-time WVIAC Coach of the Year Reid Amos' Falcons. Will Gautreau, Justin Caroli, and Tyler Franklin return for FSU.

West Liberty State looks to snap their frustrating four-year string of second place finishes behind senior David Lane.

The 2006-07 WVIAC men's golf season tees off this weekend with the Burger King Invitational hosted by Ohio Valley at Woodridge Plantation in Mineral Wells. The WVIAC Men's Golf Championship is set for April at Cacapon State Park in Berkeley Springs.