May 11, 2012

SAN MARCOS, Texas - The UT Arlington men's and women's track and field teams began their final Southland Conference Championship performance Friday with each team scoring six points on a light day of activity.

Romain Martin performed well on the first of two decathlon days as he looks to defend his conference crown in the event. Martin placed first in four of the five events: the 100 meters (11.26), shot put (12.98m), high jump (2.05 meters) and the 400 meters (49.40). In addition, he took third in the long jump (6.70m).

Martin scored 3,905 points to take a 46-point lead heading into the second half of the decathlon on Saturday. During his busy day, Martin also secured third place in the open javelin competition, securing all six points for the team. His toss of 63.06 meters was the best by a UTA athlete this season.

UTA has a chance to score additional points in the decathlon courtesy of Brandon Blanchard (4th, 3,322 points) and John Frnka (T-5th, 3,214 points). Blanchard's best finish was third place in the high jump, while Frnka claimed fourth in the shot put.

On the women's side Maria Sandstrom placed third in the 10,000 meters, posting a time of 37:06.84, to give the women's squad all six of the its points in the standings.

Competition resumes tomorrow with a full slate of prelims and several finals. The meet will conclude Sunday. Live scoring is available all weekend on Southland.org.

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