Erm, Garland Sit 1-2 At South Carolina Invite

Friday, February 5

Columbia, S.C.

All Day

University of Georgia

South Carolina Invitational

Photo by: South Carolina Athletics

February 05, 2021 | Track & Field

Day 1 Results

COLUMBIA, S.C. --- Senior Johannes Erm and redshirt sophomore Kyle Garland own the top two spots in the heptathlon following the opening day of the South Carolina Invitational on Friday.

Erm, who captured the 2018-19 Southeastern Conference heptathlon championships, posted the longest shot put mark of his multi-events career and is leading overall with 3,197 points.  Garland, who is the defending SEC heptathlon champion, also let go of the longest shot put toss of his career and is in second with 3,117 points.

Erm and Garland will wrap up their final three events (60-meter hurdles, pole vault, 1000m) on Saturday starting at 9 a.m.

Live Results: For live results to this weekend's meet, please visit: http://gado.gs/61z

Kyprianou's Comments: "Johannes and Kyle did an outstanding job today given this is a true practice heptathlon following their steady return from a couple early season setbacks," said Bulldog head coach Petros Kyprianou.  "They both showed why they are future Olympians and how to methodically get our NCAA qualifiers.  I'm proud of them and their demeanor given how fearless competitors they both are while handling their bodies with care."

The Lowdown: A week after teammates Karel Tilga (5,713) and Ziggy Zoller (5,519) moved into the 2021 collegiate top-10 list in the heptathlon, Erm and Garland put the nation on notice with their opening day showing.  With the 60m hurdles restarting competition on Saturday morning, Garland currently holds a 147-point lead over Alabama's Jacob Spotswood, who is in third place.

Erm opened the competition up by finishing third in the 60m thanks to a time of 7.17 for 823 points.  Garland started the day in sixth after finishing his opening race in 7.26 for 792 points.

In the long jump, Erm improved on his second and third attempts, topping out at 23 feet, 11 inches for 883 points.  This shot him into the overall lead by 72 points.  Garland hit 20-8.50 on his first two tries before skipping his third attempt.  He remained in sixth with another 655 points and trailed Erm by 259 points at that point.

The Bulldog duo proved their focus this semester on the shot put has not been wasted time.  Garland came directly out of the gate with a personal record of 48-10.25 for a 783-point bump.  His performance shot him into second place with an event to go on Friday.  Erm also launched his first attempt a career-best combined events distance of 48-0.50 to tally 768 points.  This showing strengthened his lead after the hep's third event.

Garland pulled within 80 points of Erm and stayed in second place with his perfect showing in the high jump.  Opening at 6-2, Garland reeled off six consecutive clearances and retired at 6-10.25 on a first try clearance to win the high jump for 887 points.  Erm reached 6-3.25 on his second attempt and scored 723 points to head into Saturday as the leader.

How To Keep Up With The Dogs: Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack) and Snapchat (ugatrack).

Heptathlon Scores
Name                 60m              LJ                     SP                    HJ                    Day 1
Johannes Erm    7.17              23-11               *48-0.50          6-3.25              3,197 pts.

60mH              PV                    1000m             TOTAL

Kyle Garland   60m                 LJ                     SP                    HJ                    Day 1
                        7.26                 20-8.50            *48-10.25        6-10.25            3,117 pts.

60mH              PV                    1000m             TOTAL

*UGA personal record in multi-events