Beloit's Shelvin Garrett will compete in U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials

BELOIT — UW-Whitewater’s Shelvin Garrett II has used his ability in the triple jump to soar to some truly lofty accomplishments.

In 2024, he has already captured the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championship and finished runner-up in the Outdoor nationals, earning All-American honors on both occasions.

Now the Beloit Memorial High School graduate is aiming for his highest achievement yet — a berth on the U.S. Olympic Team.

The Warhawk junior has been invited to compete at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials which will be held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Organized by USA Track and Field, the 10-day competition which starts June 21 serves as the national championships in track and field for the United States.

Garrett will compete in the qualification round on Friday, June 28, at 8:20 p.m. CST.

So how does a Division III athlete find himself competing against the top triple jumpers in the nation?

With his mark of 15.97 meters in winning the Indoor National Championships, Garrett surpassed the minimum of 15.75 in victory that is required to qualify for the Trials. He is ranked 18th in the field of 24 heading into the competition.

Since the Outdoor nationals in late May, Garrett has continued to work out hoping he’d have the opportunity to take some jumps in Oregon.

“According to the rankings, I thought I’d make it, but I didn’t find out officially until Friday,” Garrett said.

While he has some ground to make up to catch the leaders in the upper 16 and 17-meter class, Garrett is confident he has another PR in him.

“I feel there is a lot of room to improve, honestly,” he said. “When I look at my PR jump (in the Indoor nationals), I see way more negatives than positives. I don’t hit the board too well. In my phases, I don’t attack the ground well. Those are things that weren’t good then because I want to jump farther, but they’re good now because if I fix them, I can jump farther.”

Garrett has shown in the past he’s at his best under pressure. At the Indoor Championships, he held first after his fourth jump of 15.47 meters, a personal best at the time. But on his final jump of the day, he leaped 15.97 to set his new PR and a UW-Whitewater record to clinch the national title.

In the Outdoor nationals, Garrett took second for the second consecutive season. He advanced through the first round of jumps with an effort of 15 meters (49-feet, 2.5 inches). Down to his final jump, Garrett posted a leap of 15.38 meters (50-5.5) to secure national runner-up. He is a three-time triple jump All-American outdoors and six-time honoree overall. He has never finished below fifth in six combined indoor and outdoor national championship appearances.

Garrett is currently back in Beloit and has been training by himself for about three weeks.

“It’s going pretty well and I think I’m starting to fix some mistakes,” he said. “I’m going to Sun Prairie on the 20th for a USATF summer series meet and that should be a good opportunity to see where I am. Competition is always good.”

At the Trials, he said he wants to do his best, but he’s also planning on being a bit of a fan.

“I’m going to see guys like Russell Robinson of the University of Miami who I follow on Instagram,” Garrett said. “I watch all his videos. Will Claye, Christian Taylor, Omar Craddock, all the top guys will be there. I’m super excited to see them compete up close and personal instead of from the stands.”