Wayne State College was picked fifth in the 2023 NSIC Preseason Men's Outdoor Track and Field Coaches' Poll released Friday morning by the league office in Burnsville, Minnesota.  The Wildcats received 76 points in voting from league coaches after placing fifth at last year's NSIC Outdoor Championships.
            Selected as Athletes to Watch in the NSIC this season are junior distance runner Brandon Mundorf and junior high jumper Dylan Kneifl.
            10-time defending NSIC outdoor champion Minnesota State was selected as the team to beat this seson receiving 10 of 12 first place votes and 120 points.  Augustana was second with 112 points and the remaining two first place ballots.  MSU Moorhead (91 pts), University of Mary (88) and Wayne State with 76 points close out the top five teams.
            Minnesota Duluth was sixth at 70 points followed by Concordia-St. Paul (66), Northern State (53), Sioux Falls (48), Minot State (34), Southwest Minnesota State (22) and Upper Iowa (12) rounding out the poll.
            Kneifl, a gradate of Wisner-Pilger HS, was an All-NSIC performer and NCAA national qualifier last spring in the high jump.  He cleared a new school record 6' 11 ½" to place second at last spring's NSIC outdoor championships and was a national qualifier in the event where he placed 12^th to earn Second Team All-American honors.
            Mundorf, a junior from Springview (North Central HS), is coming off a strong indoor season where he took seventh in the 1,000-meter run and eighth in the one mile run while also scoring points on the distance medley relay team that was fourth.  Last spring, Mundorf had a10th place finish in the 1,500-meter run at the NSIC outdoor championships.
            Wayne State opens the 2023 outdoor track and field schedule on Friday and Saturday, March 24 and 25^th hosting the Wildcat Classic at Leroy Simpson Track in Wayne.