Ken Mullings' big high jump gives him Penn Relays decathlon lead after first day

With the help of a commanding performance in the high jump, sophomore Ken Mullings of the University of the Bahamas took the lead Tuesday after the opening five events of the decathlon at the Penn Relays.

Mullings jumped 6 feet, 6 ¼ inches at Franklin Field and topped everyone else in the 10-man field by at least 8 ¼ inches, rolling up 794 points to take a 208-point lead at that stage of the competition. He closed with a 50.84-second performance in the 400 meters and finished the day with 3,839 points.

Senior D.J. Workcuff of Mount St. Mary's posted the best marks in three events and stood in second place with 3,673 points. Workcuff captured the 100 meters in 10.93 seconds and the 400 meters in 49.93 while long jumping 23-5 ¼.

Freshman Alex Sislo of Penn was in third place with 3,462 points and Christopher Gabor of Mount St. Mary's held fourth place at 3,399. Gabor had the best mark in the shotput at 41-6 ½.

In the women's heptathlon, senior Tyanna Petty of the University of Rio Grande in Ohio posted the best times in the 100-meter hurdles and the 200 to hold first place after four events with a total of 2,890 points.

Petty clocked 15.16 seconds in the hurdles and 25.86 in the 200, topping 800 points in each event. She tied for first in the high jump at 5-5 ¼.

Messiah sophomore Taylor Wiederrecht, who also high jumped 5-5 ¼, was second with 2,716 points, followed by Emily Hagarty of Adelphi in third with 2,657 and Eboni Birch of St. John's in fourth with 2,580. Birch posted the best mark in the shotput, 38- ¾.

The decathlon and heptathlon competition concludes Wednesday.