ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The South Atlantic Conference has released its 2023 Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field Preseason polls and list of Athletes to Watch for the upcoming season.

The Tusculum men were picked to finish sixth and the Pioneer women were chosen for eighth in the voting by the league's head coaches.

The Pioneers will begin their 2022-23 indoor season on Saturday, Dec. 3 at the Commonwealth College Opener in Louisville, Kentucky. The SAC Championship meet will be held Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 25-26 at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

MEN'S PREVIEW
The Pioneers, who finished sixth at last year's SAC Indoor Championship, will feature senior sprinter Jarvis Barber Jr. and sophomore jumper Joshua Stephens.

Barber was part of the Pioneers' gold medal winning 4x400 relay at last year's conference indoor meet, and competed in both the 60 meters and 200 meters at the SAC Championship. The Ocala, Florida native ranks fourth on the program performance lists in both the 60 and 200.

Stephens has the fourth-best mark in the triple jump (13.50 meters) and 10th-best in the long jump (5.72 meters) in program history. The Sanford, Florida native also competed in dashes from 60 to 400 meters for the Pioneers during his freshman campaign.

Wingate had eight first-place votes and 129 points in the balloting to take the top spot in the poll, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne with 117 points. Limestone had the other four first-place votes and 107 points for third place, with Carson-Newman (105), Catawba (88) and Tusculum (85) rounding out the top half of the poll.

Lincoln Memorial (67 points) is seventh, with Newberry (62) in eighth and Anderson (55) in ninth. Coker (44 points) is 10th, trailed by Mars Hill (38) and league newcomer Emory & Henry (21).

WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Tusculum took ninth place at last year's SAC Indoor Championship, and was picked for eighth this year as graduate sprinter Kylia Wright and sophomore thrower Amber Hogan are featured.

Wright ran three seasons at North Carolina State University (2018-20) and competed at the ACC Championships in both her sophomore and junior seasons. The Knightdale, North Carolina native has career-best times of 7.64 seconds in the 60 and 24.91 seconds in the 200 meters.

Hogan took 14th place in the weight throw at last year's SAC Indoor Championship, and ranks second in program history in the event with a best mark of 12.08 meters. The Piedmont, South Carolina product is fifth on the program performance list in the shot put at 10.13 meters.

Lenoir-Rhyne took eight first-place votes and is first in the poll with 128 points, followed by Wingate with the other four first-place votes and 124 points. Anderson (101 points) is third, followed by Carson-Newman (96), Limestone (90) and Catawba (89) in sixth.

Lincoln Memorial is seventh with 69 points, just ahead of the Pioneers at 67 points. Coker (58 points) is ninth, with Newberry (48), Mars Hill (29) and league newcomer Emory & Henry (19) rounding out the survey.

2022-23 SAC MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD PRESEASON POLL

2022-23 SAC WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD PRESEASON POLL