BURNSVILLE, Minn. --- The Minnesota State women's track and field team is coming off their first NCAA Indoor Championship and has been picked to finish first in the NSIC Preseason Women's Outdoor Track & Field Coaches Poll. 

The Mavericks received 14 first-place votes and 196 points to secure the top spot in the poll. Augustana followed in second place receiving one first-place vote and 176 points, while the University of Mary tied Augustana in points with 176 and no first-place votes rounding out the top-three. 

Ja'Cey Simmons, a sophomore from Milwaukee, Wis., has been named the Mavericks Track Athlete to Watch for this season. Simmons is the returning NSIC Outdoor champion in the 100m and 200m with times of 11.63 and 23.98, respectively. Both of those times were career best marks and tied the NSIC record in the 200m. Simmons also finished seventh and 12th at the 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships in the 100m and 200m earning All-American honors in both events.

Brea Perron, a senior from Waukesha, Wis., has been named Minnesota State's Field Athlete to Watch for the 2022 outdoor season. Perron earned both All-NSIC and All-American honors in the shot put after a fifth place and 10th-place finish at the 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships. Perron also finished fifth in this year's indoor national championships with a distance of 49' 7" (15.11m). Perron finished sixth in the hammer throw at the 2021 NSIC Outdoor Championships with a throw of 178' 2'' (54.31m). 

The Mavericks are set to begin their outdoor season March 25-26 as they will compete in the Wildcat Outdoor Classic in Wayne, Neb.



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