With his best events ahead of him and least favorite behind him, Oregon men’s track and field junior Santiago Lorenzo is in good position to win the Texas Relays Decathlon.
The All-American decathlete is currently sixth out of 18 competitors after five events at the Relays, only 288 points behind the leader, Trafton Rodgers, who is competing unattached.
Lorenzo had a good all-around day in Austin, Tex., placing as high as third and no lower than 10th in any event. Lorenzo looks forward to the final day of competition, in which his marquee events (javelin, pole vault and 110 hurdles) will be contested.
Lorenzo placed third in the 400 meters in a time of 49.26 seconds, less than four tenths of a second behind Rodgers. He also added fifth-place finishes in the 100 meters (11.11) and the shot put (44 feet).
Overall, the Buenos Aires, Argentina native is only 64 points behind his personal best after five events.
Teammate Billy Pappas had a tougher day in his season-opening competition. After solid efforts in the first three events, Pappas failed to make the opening height in the high jump, costing him hundreds of points.
Pappas’ personal best in the high jump is 6 feet, four inches, which would have been worth 740 points in the decathlon. The junior can make up for his stumble today in his preferred events, the 110 hurdles and pole vault.
Sophomore Jason Hartmann has already locked up an NCAA bid in the 10,000 meters and will look for another in the 5,000. The NCAAs will take place at Hayward Field.
Pappas, who stands at 18th place, put forth a third-place finish in the shot put with a toss of 45-1.
The multi-event portion of the Relays concludes today at 11 a.m. CDT with the 110 hurdles.
Going the distance
Last season, sophomore distance runner Jason Hartmann was kept off of the track in order to become accustomed to the collegiate scene. This year, Smith can’t keep Hartmann off of the oval.
In his first ever 10,000 meter race on the track, Hartmann earned an automatic NCAA qualifying mark and ran the seventh-fastest time in Oregon history.
Hartmann’s time of 28 minutes, 56 seconds ranks him fourth in the nation.
“I was quite happy with my time,” Hartmann said. “I’m looking forward to training hard and if I just stick to the fundamentals, I’ll keep improving.”
With a trip to the NCAA meet at Hayward Field already secured, Hartmann can now work on a nationals bid in the other long distance race — the 5,000 meters.
“Hopefully I’ll qualify for the 5K if everything goes right,” Hartmann said. “If it happens it happens. But I love both [the 5,000 and 10,000].”
Hartmann’s next race will be on April 14 when Oregon hosts the Washington Dual meet.
