He was only 288 points behind the leader after day one.
But did Oregon junior decathlete Santiago Lorenzo believe he could come from behind Thursday to win the two-day Texas Relays Decathlon?
“Not really,” Lorenzo said.
Lo and behold, the junior surprised himself with a personal-best second day performance to become the first Duck in 52 years to win the Texas Relays.
But who could blame Lorenzo for doubting himself, considering the leader of the pack was none other than multi-event track and field star Trafton Rodgers, who was a three-time national champion and eight-time Division II All-American while at Abilene Christian in the late 1990s?
Rodgers, who was competing unattached, stumbled in the 1,500 meters — the 10th and final event of the decathlon — and finished second-to-last in an unimpressive five minutes and 28.3 seconds. Rodgers’ slow time left the door wide open for Lorenzo, and the Duck took full advantage.
Lorenzo gave it his all in his last race of the day and came from 50 meters behind to catch up to unattached Allen Bullick, who had led throughout the race. The two created a photo finish at the line, with Lorenzo’s final lean proving the difference as he earned first place in the event by a mere 0.08 seconds.
Lorenzo’s winning time of 4:30.57 also proved to be the difference in the entire meet, as he won and earned an automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships in the process.
His final point tally of 7,726 was 23 points ahead of second-place Rodgers and topped his previous career-high of 7,649, earned at last season’s Pac-10 Championships at Hayward Field.
“I thought I could win among the collegians but not against people like Rodgers,” said Lorenzo, who leaped 275 points over Rodgers in that final event. “Trafton ran really pathetically in the 1,500. I think he kind of let up a bit on that. I mean, 5:30 is a slow time. My grandma could run that time.”
But don’t think the Buenos Aires, Argentina, native is complaining after climbing from sixth to first place in the talented 18-person field.

“It means a lot,” Lorenzo said. “It’s a great honor to win such a huge meet.”
After recording two personal records during day one, Lorenzo came out and scored two more PRs: a 15-9 in the pole vault and a 14.9 in the 110-meter hurdles.
What makes his performance even more impressive was that it was his first decathlon of the season.
“He showed a lot of heart, especially at the end, passing two guys in the last 100 meters [of the 1,500],” Oregon assistant coach Bill Lawson said. “The decathlon is the most physically, mentally and emotionally demanding event in track and field, and Santiago showed his grit by gradually catching up the whole way, and refusing to let up.
“That kind of dedication and hard work is the example we want to see in all of our athletes.”
Despite the personal-record-breaking performance, Lorenzo cites his sixth-place performance on Wednesday as an example of what he needs to do to get better.
“I sucked yesterday,” said Lorenzo, referring to his day one performance. “I know I can do a lot better. But everything that went bad yesterday went good today.”
He knows he has plenty of room for improvement before the NCAAs begin on May 30 in Eugene and believes it will take a total score of 8,000 to be the national champion, a feat he describes as his “whole goal.”
Despite the work ahead, Lorenzo says he will make sure to treasure his latest win.
“Beating Trafton gave me a lot of confidence going into the season,” he said. “In a decathlon, you never know [who will win] until the last race.
“It feels good … real good.”
Notes: Other Ducks competing Thursday were hammer throwers sophomore Adam Kriz (personal best throw of 192-4 in the hammer) and redshirt junior Rian Ingrim (did not meet standard length). In the 400-meter hurdles freshman Jake Garlick (third, 52.40), junior Tim Overfield (53.20) and freshman Brandon Holliday (fifth, 55.83 in different section) all competed.