ROCK HILL, S.C. --- The Tusculum University women's indoor track and field team has been picked ninth in the South Atlantic Conference preseason coaches poll.

The Pioneers were ninth in last year's SAC Indoor Championships in their inaugural season of competition, as Nicole McMillen finished third in the mile run and took fourth in the 5,000 meters.

McMillen, a senior, has been chosen as one of the Athletes to Watch for Tusculum in distance events, along with freshman Earthazia Watkins in sprints and sophomore I'Keriah Day in field events.

Defending champion Queens collected seven of 11 first-place votes and took the top spot in the poll, followed by Wingate, Lenoir-Rhyne, Carson-Newman and Anderson in the top five. Coker was sixth in the poll, followed by Lincoln Memorial, Catawba, Tusculum, Mars Hill and Newberry.

The 2019 SAC Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held Feb. 23 and 24 at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Tusculum opens its 2019 schedule on Friday, Jan. 11 with competition at the two-day ETSU Invitational.

- TU -