WHITEWATER, Wis. — Shelvin Garrett II admits it sounds a little funny when he says it, but now that he’s taking the time to enjoy his experience rather than try to stay so razor-sharp focused, he has become a more successful competitor.
“I used to take it so seriously and I’d be so uptight,” Garrett said. “Obviously, I still take it seriously, but I also see it as an opportunity to just go and jump and have some fun. I have way more fun now than I used to. Now I see nationals as a free vacation and I get to go jump in some sand.”
The Beloit Memorial High School graduate, who is in his fourth year on the UW-Whitewater track and field team, ranks as the top NCAA Division III triple jumper in the nation.
He’s held that ranking throughout the indoor season, jumping 15.41 meters (50-feet, 6.75 inches) back on Jan. 26. Only two jumpers have gone over 15 meters and Garrett has done it three times. Cole Goodman of Rochester (N.Y.) is the other with a 15.30 effort.
“I can’t lie, that’s pretty cool,” Garrett said of his No. 1 ranking. “I think I was ranked No. 1 back in my third year, but that was only for about a week.”
Garrett has proved time again and again that the distance was no fluke. He has come close to matching it on several occasions as he piles up points for the Warhawks.
“That’s really my goal,” he said. “I want to help win trophies for my team.”
Garrett won’t be competing this week, having already punched his own ticket back to the NCAA Division III National Indoor Championships to be held March 8-9. Some of the Warhawks will attend a Last Chance meet trying to qualify.
“I’m just trying to fine tune things, taking as many jumps as I need,” he said. “This season I took a different approach. I don’t even take every one of my jumps every meet. I’ve tried to stay on the healthier side and not beat my body up as much.
“Sometimes my coach will tell me to watch the leaderboard and avoid some scratches and cut down on some jumps. I try to get a good one in on the first or second jump, preferably the first and then chill out after that.”
At nationals, Garrett will have three jumps in the preliminary round and three more if he makes it to the finals.
Thanks to the bonus year of eligibility athletes received because of COVID-19, Garrett also has another season to compete — if he wants it.
“I’m not sure if I’ll take it because I think I’ll be student-teaching next spring and that might be kind of hectic,” he said. “I really want to teach P.E. after I graduate.”
Garrett has a wide variety of experience which would also aid in his ability to coach, having played football in college to go along with track. He doesn’t hide where he would like to teach and coach, either.
“I really want to come back to Beloit and give back,” he said. “I’d like to be a position coach in football and perhaps help out in strength and conditioning. I’d love to coach track, too, and maybe start out as an event coach. I’d like to help get Beloit track back to where it used to be.”
Garrett has plenty of experience there, too. At Whitewater, he has competed in sprints, relays, the long jump and of course his forte, the triple jump. He has posted college bests of 6.97 in the indoor 60-meter dash and 10.99 in the 100. In the long jump, he has gone 7.1 meters (23-foot, 5.5 inches).
“I’ve helped the team out for points in other events, like the 200 and the 4x100 if needed,” he said. “This year I’ve added the long jump, but that’s not an event I train a lot for. Basically I’m in it just to steal some points in meets. I’m mainly focusing on the triple.”
In his most recent meet, the WIAC Indoor Championships at UW-Whitewater’s Kachel Fieldhouse, he finished first in the triple jump at 15.10 meters (49-6.5) by nearly 2 feet and fifth in the long jump with a leap of 7.06 meters (23-2). That was his first conference title, although he has had four other second-place finishes in the WIAC Outdoor and Indoor championships.
He is a veteran All-American of both the NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Championships. As a freshman in 2021, he finished 15th in the triple jump in the outdoor meet. In 2022, he was third in the event indoors and fifth outdoors. Last season, he was fifth indoors and second outdoors.
This season he will head to the D-III Championships at Norfolk State in Virginia Beach, Va., with between seven and nine other Warhawks, including fellow ex-Purple Knight Kobe Chandler, who will run the 400 with the team’s distance medley relay. That quartet is seeded No. 2 in 9:43.20.
Chandler was fifth in the 400 in 49.75 at the WIAC Indoors and ran a leg of the fourth-place 4x400 relay (3:24.30).
“I’ll finally get to see the ocean for the first time,” Garrett said of visiting Virginia Beach. “We’ll leave on Wednesday and probably come back on Sunday so it will be a nice trip.”
He won’t just be sightseeing. He has a goal in mind, but not a distance.
“I used to do that, but I don’t do it anymore,” he said. “Honestly, I’m just trying to maximize the most points I can give the team. Getting the team trophy is the main thing. If I can pull off a first place, that will help us out a lot.”
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