Wayne State College was picked ninth out of 15 teams in the Preseason NSIC Women's Indoor Track and Field Coaches' Poll for the 2022-23 season released Thursday afternoon by the league office in Burnsville, Minnesota.  The Wildcats garnered 87 points in voting from league coaches and return one All-NSIC performer from last year's team that was ninth at the NSIC Indoor Championships.
            Listed as Wildcats to Watch in the NSIC this season are graduate student thrower Mckenzie Scheil and junior sprinter Sarah Cotton.
            Minnesota State, the three-time defending NSIC indoor women's champion, was the unanimous selection as the team to beat this season receiving 196 points and 14 first-place votes with Augustana coming in second at 182 points and the remaining first-place ballot (coaches can not vote for their own team).
            University of Mary was third at 162 points with Winona State fourth (154) and Minnesota Duluth fifth (148).
            Sioux Falls came in sixth with 122 points followed by Northern State (108), Concordia-St. Paul (99), Wayne State (87) and St. Cloud State 10^th with 76 points.  Closing out the coaches poll are Bemidji State (72), MSU Moorhead (66), Minot State (48), Southwest Minnesota State (33) and Upper Iowa (22).
            Scheil, a graduate student from Fairmont (Fillmore Central HS), earned All-NSIC honors last season in the weight throw placing fourth and was an All-American in the event with a sixth place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships.  She also placed third in the shot put at last year's NSIC Championships.
            Cotton, a junior sprinter from Ida Grove, Iowa (OA-BCIG HS), competed in the 100 and 200 meter dashes last season for the Wildcats while also running legs on two sprint relay teams.
            Wayne State opens the 2022-23 indoor track and field season Friday and Saturday at the SDSU Holiday Invite in Brookings, South Dakota at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.