The Wayne State College women are picked seventh out of 15 teams in the 2023 NSIC Preseason Women's Outdoor Track and Field Coaches' Poll released Friday morning by the league office in Burnsville, Minnesota. Graduate student thrower Mckenzie Scheil and junior middle distance runner Kelsey Larsen were listed as Wildcats to Watch in the NSIC this spring.
            Wayne State garnered 110 points in voting conducted by league coaches to finish seventh in the poll after placing eighth last spring at the NSIC Outdoor Championships. 
            Minnesota State was the unanimous choice to win the women's title this season with 196 points and 14 first-place votes.  Augustana came in second at 181 points with Winona State third with 160 points and the remaining first-place ballot.  Sioux Falls edged University of Mary 147-144 for fourth place in the poll.
            Minnesota Duluth came in sixth at 127 points followed by Wayne State (110), Concordia-St. Paul (108), Northern State (107) and St. Cloud State 10^th with 73 points.  Closing out the coaches poll are MSU Moorhead (68), Bemidji State (64), Minot State and Southwest Minnesota State (38) and Upper Iowa with 14 points.
            Scheil, a graduate student from Fairmont (Fillmore Central HS), was the national runner-up and NSIC champion in the weight throw last spring and was a national qualifier in the shot put while taking third in the event at the NSIC outdoor championships. 
            Larsen, a junior from Walthill (BRLD HS), is coming off a strong indoor season where she was All-NSIC placing second in the 1,000-meter run while also setting a new school record in the event for the Wildcats at 2:56.80. 
            Wayne State opens 2023 outdoor track and field schedule on Friday and Saturday, March 24^th and 25^th hosting the Wildcat Classic at Leroy Simpson Track in Wayne.