BLACKSBURG - Making the trek west to Knoxville, Tennessee, the Virginia Tech track and field teams will compete on Saturday at the Tennessee Challenge to close the regular season.
The pole vault group and select distance runners will be the only Hokies making the trip to Tennessee's Tom Black Track at Laporte Stadium.
The one-day meet will begin at 9 a.m. ET with the men's hammer throw, but the Hokies won't begin competing until the vaulters begin at 11:30 a.m.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Sat. | Tennessee Challenge | 9:00 a.m. ET | Live Results
The last time out, the Hokies collected three event titles at the Liberty Twilight. Matthias Cannon won the first event title of his career with his time of 3:47.95 in the 1,500-meter run. Imagine Patterson crossed the finish line in 1:01.78 in the 400-meter hurdles, marking her first event title of the outdoor season. Kayla Richardson won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with her time of 10:56.94, marking her first event title of the year.
Nationally, the Hokies have seven student-athletes who have times and marks that rank in the top 25. Pavla Kuklova and Emma Thor rank 16th and 18th in the hammer throw, respectively, while Eszter Bajnok is 23rd in the triple jump, Rachel Pocratsky is 16th in the 800, and Rachel Baxter owns the No. 3 mark in the pole vault.
On the men's side, Deakin Volz is tied for 17th in the pole vault, while Jacory Patterson has the 25th-best time in the 200 and owns the eighth-fastest time in the 400.
Among ACC student-athletes, the Hokies own 33 times and marks that rank in the top 10 of the league.
The Tennessee Challenge will be Tech's last meet before the ACC Outdoor Championships on May 9-11 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
