University of Georgia Athletics
Garland Got The NCAA Title, Erm The Assist
March 15, 2023 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Given all that had come before, the close calls and podium finishes a spot or two away from the ultimate goal, there was no way that Kyle Garland's first NCAA title was going to come easily. Then again, there isn't anything easy about chasing records and championships.
At last weekend's NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., Garland made history by setting a new collegiate scoring record en route to his first NCAA title in the heptathlon.
"I'm still experiencing it, in a sense. It's a great feeling, it really is," he said Monday, smiling from ear to ear.
Thanks to his strong finish in the final event, the 1,000 meters — never the muscular, 6-foot-5 senior's best or favorite event — Garland won the NCAA title with a record 6,639 points. The 2022 NCAA heptathlon champion, Arkansas' Ayden Owens-Delerme, a fast runner who was in reach of the record and title going into the 1,000, was second with 6,518.
After losing to Owens-Delerme last year, by just 11 points, Garland said he joked with track staff member Perry Waddell that he was going to reach 6,600 in 2023.
"We joked back and forth, but then I sat back and thought about it. And then I was like, you know what, I genuinely think this can happen," said Garland, a three-time SEC Indoor heptathlon champion.
And it wouldn't have happened without Johannes Erm, his teammate and training partner. Erm, the 2019 NCAA Outdoor champion in the decathlon and a 2021 Olympian for his native Estonia, played the role of pace-setter for Garland in the 1,000.
The indoor heptathlon is comprised of the 60-meter run, long jump, shot put and high jump on day one and 60 hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 on day two. After the first day, Garland was in first place overall and the lean, 6-6 Erm, who is better suited for the longer distances in the outdoor decathlon, was in seventh. Garland led Owens-Delerme by 155 points heading into day two after winning three of the four events on day one (long jump, shot put and high jump).
"You like to see how somebody starts an event, and when you start an event with a (personal record in the 60) on day one, my spidey-sense perks up and you know he's ready to go," Georgia combined-events coach James Thomas said.
In the first event of the second day, the 60 hurdles, Erm tweaked a hamstring. Though he continued to compete, he wasn't at his best. In the final event, the 1,000, he chose to be a great teammate and serve as the pace-setting rabbit for Garland to chase.
"I just told Kyle, I'll do whatever you want me to do. Just let me know what you want," Erm said. "That was my first time ever pacing. I held the pace quite well. I told him he didn't have to worry about me for the first lap and a half (of five laps), but after that he should stick behind me."
After four laps, Erm pulled off the track, and Garland did the rest on his own.
"He played the biggest role in all this," Garland said. "I probably would have run 4-5 seconds slower if he wasn't in that race. I know he's so good at the longer distance running, and I trusted that he would bring me in at the proper pace. He did an absolutely incredible job. He helped me so, so much."
Entering the 1,000, with both Garland and Owens-Delerme in the hunt for the national title and the record of 6,499, Garland knew he had to finish the final event as close to the top as possible because Owens-Delerme was likely to win or place second. Owens-Delerme did win the race, but thanks to Erm's pacing and Garland's strong finish, Garland was able to place fifth with a personal-best time of 2:41.36.
"He's smart, strategic, he understands rest and recovery, he understands training hard, he understands competitiveness, and he understands the competitive nature of what this event takes," Thomas said.Â
"If he does what he's capable of doing on that given day, there's not a lot of people in the world that can beat him, in my opinion."
After Garland finished the 1,000 and knew he'd achieved two goals he'd worked so hard to reach, the joyous tears flowed and flowed. As he hugged his father, Keith, his cheeks were drenched.
Some of that was relief and excitement after twice being the NCAA runner-up in the heptathlon (including to then-teammate Karel Tilga in 2021) and placing third in the NCAA Outdoor decathlon last year. There was also the joy of breaking the collegiate record formerly held by American combined-events legend Ashton Eaton, a two-time Olympic and world champion and the former world record holder in the decathlon.Â
"Because I laid everything out there, my body was just physically dead. That's where all that emotion came from. I wasn't holding anything in," he said.
There was another reason for the tears and emotion: Garland didn't know if he'd even be able to participate when Georgia headed to Albuquerque. He suffered a wrist injury last Monday while lifting weights — "I pinched all the nerves" in his right wrist, he said — and he didn't know if he could do the shot put and pole vault.
"I pretty much on Monday thought I wasn't going to compete," he said. "And to rehab through that, trust the trainers, and then come out and put up a score like this, I couldn't help but show the emotions on my face."
The only person ever to score more points in the men's indoor heptathlon is Eaton, who owns the world record of 6,645 — just six points beyond Garland's score. Of the top 31 scores ever, four belong to current or former Bulldogs: Garland (2nd), Garrett Scantling (12th), Maicel Uibo (30th) and Tilga (31st).
Garland now owns the collegiate records in both combined events, having set the mark in the decathlon (8,720) last year at the USATF Combined Events Championship.
"This is kind of what the past two years has been about, with two collegiate records in the past 12 months," Garland said. "I've shocked myself — it's fun, it's a lot of fun."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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