As much as he told himself that his weekend was mainly “a vacation and a chance to go play in some sand,” Shelvin Garrett II knew what was at stake.
The Beloit native and UW-Whitewater athlete went into the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as the No. 1 seed in the triple jump.
He lived up to that billing and more.
Garrett not only came away with a national championship, he also set the facility record and UW-Whitewater program record in the event with a leap of 15.97 meters (52-feet, 4 3/4 inches) at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
He set the record on his final jump.
“I knew the guy who was in second place at the time (Cole Goodman of Rochester University) is really good and I figured I needed to put it out of reach,” Garrett said. “I gave it everything I had on that jump. When I hit the sand I knew it was a good jump, but I looked first at the judge to make sure he wasn’t waving a red flag. I’d scratched on two other jumps.
“I was pleased to see the white flag. The main thing was that I knew the team needed the 10 points and I think that sealed it.”
Goodman had led with a 15.08 before Garrett moved into first on his fourth jump of 15.47 meters, a personal best at the time. Goodman ended up runnerup with a 15.27 effort on his final try.
“I didn’t know that last jump was any sort of record until later,” Garrett said. “I knew it was a fairly long jump because they had little markers alongside the sand. I heard what it was in meters first, but when they said what it was in feet and inches, it was oh snap, that’s getting out there. That made me even more happy.”
Garrett said that his success was related to being able to put outside pressures and distractions aside. That’s the biggest difference in how he looks at competing now and when he was a “rookie” at nationals as a freshman.
“I know the process now,” he said. “Being top-seeded did cross my mind and then I could sense getting a little nervous. I just needed to calm down, pray a little bit and get relaxed. I jumped the farthest during the regular season. All I needed to do was do it again. The competition being really good just brought out the best in me and I peaked at the right time.”
Teammate Kobe Chandler, another Beloit Memorial High School graduate, also earned All-American recognition from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for placing in the top eight.
Chandler ran a leg of the seventh-place distance medley, with Craig Hundley, Rhett Reuter and Justin Krause that finished in 9:52.15.
UW-La Crosse won its second straight D-III men’s title and 20th overall while the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) grabbed the top four places. UW-La Crosse had 74 points, followed by UW-Eau Claire with 52, UW-Oshkosh with 51 and UW-Whitewater with 37.
“Someone came up to me and said it was fun watchint the WIAC conference meet,” Garrett said with a chuckle. “It was a clean sweep of the top four spots and we came away with a team trophy so that was nice.”
A total of 63 teams earned points at the national meet hosted by Norfolk State University. UW-Stout tied for 27th with eight points, UW-Platteville tied for 38th with five and UW-Stevens Point tied for 43rd with four.
UW-La Crosse had four of the conference’s nine individual national champions during the two-day championship. Sam Blaskowski claimed the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.68 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 20.93 seconds. It was his second straight title in the 60-meter dash.
Ethan Gregg won the 3,000-meter run for the second consecutive season with a time of 8:07.80, while Cael Schoemann claimed the 800-meter run with a time of 1:50.56.
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