The Wayne State men are picked eighth and the Wildcat women are 11th in the preseason Northern Sun Conference Indoor Track and Field coaches polls announced Thursday.
Minnesota State, the 10-time reigning NSIC Indoor champion for men’s track and field, was the overwhelming favorite to repeat as NSIC men’s indoor champions this year with 120 points and 10 first-place votes. Augustana followed in second place with 112 points and the remaining two first-place votes.
Graduate student Cole Christoffersen was listed as the Wildcat Field Athlete to Watch this season. Last year, Cole was an NCAA national qualifier in the weight throw and placed fourth at the NSIC Indoor Championships with a mark of 63 feet, 9 3/4 inches.
Senior Noah Lilly is WSC's Track Athlete to Watch. He was an All-NSIC performer last year placing third in the heptathlon (4,621 points) while also placing sixth during the NSIC Indoor Championships in the pole vault (14-0).
Minnesota State was voted as the team to beat in NSIC women’s indoor track and field this season collecting 12 first-place votes and 194 points. Augustana was next in second at 181 points and two first-place votes while the University of Mary received the remaining first-place ballot and was third at 172 points.
Mckenzie Scheil, a graduate student, was listed as the Wildcat Field Athlete to Watch. She is the two-time defending champion in the weight throw and placed second in the event at the NCAA Div. II Indoor Championships last March. She was named last year’s NSIC Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Year and the USTFCCCA Central Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year.
Megan Hansen, a sophomore hurdler, was named the Wildcat Track Athlete to Watch. Last season as a freshman, Hansen medaled at the NSIC Indoor Championships with an eighth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles in 9.08 seconds.
Wayne State opens the 2022 indoor track season Friday, Dec. 3 at the SDSU Holiday Invitational in Brookings, S.D.
