BURNSVILLE, MINN. — The University of Sioux Falls Outdoor Track and Field Teams were both picked to finish in the top-six, according to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Track and Field Preseason Coaches' Poll released Wednesday afternoon by the league office. The USF men's team was picked third and the women's program was tabbed sixth.

Junior distance runner Zach Lundberg and senior thrower Christian Gruschin were named USF's preseason men's "Athletes to Watch" while sophomore Taryn Ceglowski and Junior Emma Hertz earned the preseason women's "Athletes to Watch" for the USF program.

Doug Petersen enters his second season as the Director of USF Track & Field, after serving on staff as the distance coach and USF Cross Country head coach for three seasons and one more as a cross country assistant coach.

After a fifth place finish at the NSIC Outdoor Championships last season, the USF Men's Track & Field team was picked to finish third out of 11 programs. Minnesota State was tabbed the unanimous favorite with an even 100 points from 10 first-place votes while the Cougars received 82 vote points.

The USF Women's Track & Field team was selected to finish sixth out of the 15 league programs and earned 125 points in the poll. The University of Mary was picked to win the NSIC as they garnered 14 first place votes and 196 points. The Marauders edged out MSU, who won the NSIC Indoor Championships earlier this year, by 16 points as the Mavericks polled 180 points.

USF will feature strength in the distance events and also be competitive in the throws, jumps and sprints. The distance contingent will be led by junior Mason Phillips of Bailey, Colo., who along with Steve Brown and Zach Lundberg were members of the Men's Cross Country Team which led USF to a program-best fifth place finish at the NCAA DII Cross Country Championships (Dec. 1). The group was also part of the Men's Distance Medley Relay that earned All-American honors with a program-best fourth place finish at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships I'm March.

USF junior Christian Gruschin anchors the USF field events in the men's discus, hammer throw and shot put. A year ago at the NSIC Outdoor Championships, Grustchin took second in the men's discus, 20th in the hammer throw, and 23rd in the shot put. Gruschin also holds the USF record in the men's hammer throw with a distance of 177' 11".

The USF Women's Team will showcase strength in the throws, jumps, sprints and middle to long distance races. A year ago, Emma Hertz earned All-NSIC honors with a second-place finish in the women's discus throw at the NSIC Outdoor Championships as well as USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the discus throw run as one of the top five performers this season in the Central Region. Hertz holds the USF discus throw record (158' 11"),and was ranked second in the outdoor shot put during the 2018 season. She's also the USF indoor record holder in the shot put (44' 5.25"), and was sixth in the hammer throw last season. Hertz was USF's first NCAA Division II Outdoor Championship qualifier in the women's discus throw and was USF's first women's thrower to qualify for the NCAA Championships a year ago.

Jaimee McNamee holds the USF record in the women's hammer throw (164' 2") and will look to build off her impressive 2018 outdoor campaign.

Leading the USF field events contingent will be sophomore Chloe Peterson, who had solid performances at both the 2019 NSIC Indoor and 2018 Outdoor Meets. At last year's outdoor meet, Peterson finished fourth in the long jump. Also in the jumps, USF will also look contributions from junior Clara Paul as well as multi-event performers redshirt freshman Bryn Bower and sophomore Emily Olson.

Along with Peterson, junior Sarah Troescher will give USF a solid 1-2 combo as they look to make an impact in the short sprints.

In the distance events, USF will look for contributions from both senior Rebecca Goertzen and sophomore Taryn Ceglowski. A year ago, Ceglowski was All-NSIC in women's 800-meter run after third-place finish at the NSIC Outdoor Championships. Ceglowski broke the USF 800-meter and 1,500-meter run records during the 2018 outdoor season and now owns six USF records including indoor 800-meter, 1,000-meter, mile and women's DMR records. She earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the 800-meter run as one of the top five runners in the Central Region and was named NSIC Women's Newcomer of the Year in 2018.

Due to inclement weather conditions, USF Men's and Women's Track and Field will no longer compete in the Buena Vista Outdoor Invite on March 31. Instead, their next meet will be the USD Invitational on Saturday April, 6.