Jan. 28, 2012

BOISE, Idaho - UT Arlington junior Romain Martin dominated the heptathlon competition at Boise State's Jacksons Invitational, winning by nearly 900 points over his nearest competitor, and most importantly, earning an automatic berth into the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships.

The 2011 First-Team All-American totaled 5,796 points and won six of the seven events over the two days. He needed 5,750 points to earn the automatic spot.

On Saturday, Martin won all three of the heptathlon events. He claimed the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.14, the 1000-meter run (2:43.84) and the pole vault with a mark of 4.75. His hurdle time was a personal best, while he was less than a second shy of his best 1000m time.

The previous day, Martin set a personal best in the shot put (13.69 meters) and matched his top time in the 60 meters (7.15). He took first in the shot put, long jump and high jump.

"Romain definitely had a nice opening meet," assistant track and field coach Brandon Berger said. "He hit the NCAA automatic qualifying mark, so now he can focus on the rest of the year. He competed well, and I know there's a lot more to go with him, so that's a great thing."

UTA's other competitor at the event was junior Jeff Rodriguez. Rodriguez placed third in the pole vault, clearing 5.20 meters. It was just .01 meters shy of his best this season.

"Jeff also had a good meet," Berger said. "He looked great and he'll get his mark this season as well."