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NEW ORLEANS, La. – Coming off its best ever finish at the NCAA Indoor Championship, the Virginia Tech men’s track & field team is ranked No. 10 nationally in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s (USTFCCCA) preseason rankings for the 2012 outdoor season.

The Tech men return eight individuals who earned All-America honors for the 2011 outdoor season in junior Ronnie Black (high jump), redshirt senior Joe Davis (pole vault), redshirt senior Hunter Hall (pole vault), senior Hasheem Halim (triple jump), senior Michael Hammond (1500 meters), junior Denis Mahmic (hammer throw), redshirt junior Matthias Treff (javelin throw) and junior Alexander Ziegler (hammer throw). Ziegler is the defending NCAA Champion in the hammer and Treff was runner-up in the javelin.

In total, the Hokie men currently have 10 All-Americans on their 2012 outdoor roster as senior Will Mulherin earned All-America honors in the outdoor 5,000 meters in 2010, in addition to earning the honor again this past cross country season. Senior Keith Ricks also recently achieved All-America status with a 12th place finish in the 60 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championship.

At the NCAA Indoor Championship two weeks ago in Nampa, Idaho, the Hokies finished tied for eighth with 22 points. At last year’s NCAA Outdoor Meet at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, the men finished a program best fifth with 36 points. Drake is also the host of this year’s NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship from June 6-9.

The Hokies were second at last year’s ACC Outdoor Championship in Durham, N.C. and also runner-up at this year’s ACC Indoor Championship in Boston, Mass. The 2012 ACC Outdoor Championship will be hosted by the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on April 19-21.

Tech will compete at the University of Central Florida Invitational this weekend (March 23-24) at the UCF Track & Field Complex in Orlando, Fla.

For updates on Virginia Tech track & field, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Track).