April 6, 2011

AUSTIN, Tex. - Day 1 of the Texas Relays saw Romain Martin jump out to a strong start Wednesday at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

The sophomore scored 4065 points through the first five events of the decathlon, placing himself in second place and strong contention to make a run at the decathlon championship this week.

"He definitely has a chance to come in tomorrow and win the decathlon," UTA field coach Brandon Berger said.

Martin set or equaled personal bests in three events - high jump, 100m and 400m.

The 100m time Martin posted - 10.86 - especially came as a surprise.

"We're thrilled with Romain's time in the 100m," Berger said. "He and I were hoping to have him under 11.0 seconds by the end of next year. For him to break that mark in his first decathlon just shows what a tremendous athlete he is and how hard he works."

Martin's high jump of 2.05 meters paced the decathlon field. He finished no worse than seventh in any event.

Still, Martin's performances in the long jump and the shot put give hope the best is yet to come for the LeMans, France native.

"In the long jump, Romain fouled on the first two attempts and just had to put a safe jump out there to avoid getting shut out," Berger said. "I really thought he would shot put 45 feet today. He did so in warm-ups, but he finished about 2 feet shy. It shows that no matter how well he is performing - and he is performing very well - that there is room for improvement."

The decathlon concludes Thursday on the second day of the Texas Relays. Some of Martin's best events - pole vault, javelin and 110m hurdles - are still yet to come.