Muldoon currently seventh in decathlon at Tennessee Relays

Mackenzie Muldoon accumulated 3,246 points, which is 294 points behind first place Dante Newberg of Florida State

April 6, 2017

BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech’s Mackenzie Muldoon was the Hokies’ lone competitor on day one of the 50th annual Tennessee Relays held at Tom Black Track in Knoxville, Tennessee. He currently sits in seventh place in the men’s decathlon with 3,246 points.

Only five events of the men’s decathlon were scheduled for the day, as most of the action commences Friday. The Christiansburg, Virginia, native placed fourth in the 400 meters (53.34 seconds), finished sixth in the shot put (10.64 meters), tied for sixth in the long jump (6.51 meters) and seventh in the high jump (1.74 meters) and placed ninth in the 100 meters (11.38 seconds). He accumulated 3,246 points, which is 294 points behind Dante Newberg of Florida State, who leads the competition.

The final five events of the decathlon include the 110-meter hurdles, the discus, the pole vault, the javelin and the 1,500-meter run. Those will be held Friday, starting at 10 a.m.

Virginia Tech’s runners, hurdlers and jumpers start competing Friday at 2:45 p.m. Saturday’s field competition is slated to begin at 10 a.m., with the relay teams wrapping up the three-day invitational in the afternoon session.

Kentucky headlines the field, as the Wildcats’ women’s team is ranked No. 2 nationally according to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) Outdoor National Team Rankings. The Hokies check in at No. 15, moving up four spots from the preseason poll released on March 20. On the men’s side, host Tennessee leads the way with its No. 14 ranking. The Hokie men also jumped three spots to No. 18 this week.

Overall, 16 schools are scheduled to compete. Other schools schedule to be represented include 14/12 Tennessee, Vanderbilt, -/2 Kentucky, 15/18 Ole Miss, UNC, Duke, 18/15 Virginia Tech, -/10 Florida State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Illinois, Rutgers, Ohio State, Southern Illinois, Middle Tennessee and Eastern Michigan.

Of note, the SEC Network will broadcast live coverage of Friday’s competition from 3 p.m. – 7:40 p.m. ET through WatchESPN and the ESPN app. Live coverage will continue Saturday afternoon from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. Click HERE for more information on the Tennessee Relays.

Additionally, the Tech throwers will travel to Athens, Georgia, for the 2017 Spec Town Invitational held at the University of Georgia’s Spec Towns Track. Junior Pavla Kuklova and freshmen Emma Thor and Kajsa Wennberg each will compete in the women’s hammer throw event held on Friday. All three competitors are scheduled to throw at 2 p.m. ET. Click HERE for more information on Georgia’s Spec Town Invitational.

Looking ahead, the Hokies will take a week off before competing at three different meets the weekend of April 21-22.

Fans can follow all the action during each meet of the 2017 outdoor season by following the squad on Twitter and Instagram.

For updates on Virginia Tech track & field, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Track