University of Georgia Athletics
Garland Still Has ‘Huge Dreams’ In Decathlon
June 06, 2023 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Nearly everything about Kyle Garland is big: his smile, his personality, his 6-foot-5 frame, his collegiate-record scores in the decathlon and heptathlon. Garland's list of achievements in his five years at Georgia also is big, with the potential for more at this week's NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Just as big are the 23-year-old's dreams and goals.
"They're huge dreams, man. Extremely huge dreams," Garland said. "I wouldn't even call them dreams now — they're steps in the process.
"Goals and dreams are definitely two different things, and when I was younger, I had dreams to be in the position that I'm in now. And now that I've been at this point and checked off my childhood dreams, I'm not limiting myself to anything."
There are only 15 men to ever score more points in the decathlon than Garland. He knows their names and their scores, starting with world-record holder Kevin Mayer (9,126) of France. Second is the legendary American Ashton Eaton (9,045), who held the record before Mayer broke it. Seventh on the list is a former Bulldog and training partner of Garland's, Garrett Scantling, who scored 8,867 last May to win the USATF Combined Events Championships.
Beginning Wednesday, Garland launches into his final NCAAs as both the collegiate-record holder in the decathlon and the top collegiate scorer in 2023. Garland set the collegiate mark (8,720) last May at the Combined Events Championship, and last month, he posted a season-high score of 8,589 — winning the first eight events — en route to winning the second SEC decathlon title of his career and securing the No. 2 all-time collegiate score as well.
"I feel great. I feel really, really good," he said. "I'm super content with where I'm at, being done with the school side of things and able to lock in to the mindset of a professional while I'm still wearing the 'G' on my chest. It's a great feeling.
"I'm still figuring out what my life will look like as far as the professional scene, and thinking about next season. But right now, it's all about these nationals."
In 2021, Garland won the SEC title with a score of 8,196, the sixth-best score in Georgia history — and that's a very strong history. Now, Garland sits at No. 1 in Georgia and NCAA history in both the outdoor decathlon and indoor heptathlon. He set the heptathlon record earlier this year at the NCAA Indoors, posting a 6,639 (six points away from the world record) on his way to, after a couple of runner-up finishes in his great career, winning his first NCAA title.
From the sixth-best decathlon score ever at Georgia in 2021 to being the best collegiate ever at the event a year later, that's quite a leap (and sprint and throw, etc.).
At the 2023 SEC Outdoors, Garland scored almost 400 points better than he did in winning the 2021 title. Yes, he's getting better. As Georgia associate head coach James Thomas likes to say, Garland is still "a puppy" when it comes to his combined-events development.
"Probably the funnest part (of coaching Garland the past two years) is seeing his growth," said Thomas, who coaches Georgia's jumpers and combined-events competitors. "For somebody who's as talented as he is, and as big as he is, he's still a puppy in this event. Every day he gets out there, we're going to see something kind of start to come together."
Garland began his Bulldog career working with then-head coach Petros Kyprianou, who in many respects built his program around excelling in the combined events. That's why Georgia has been #MultisU for a long time, with national champions and/or Olympians in Maicel Uibo, Karel Tilga, Karl Saluri, Devon Williams, Johannes Erm, Scantling and Garland on the men's side. And on the women's side, there was Kendell Williams, who won the NCAA Indoor pentathlon all four years and the Outdoor heptathlon three times, and she placed fifth in the heptathlon at the Tokyo Olympics.
"I have a great deal of respect for guys like Garrett Scantling, Devon Williams, Maicel Uibo — all those guys," Garland said. "A great, great deal of respect for them, and to look at the all-time list and see my name atop — not just atop but significantly atop of those names — that's probably something that if when I came in as a freshman and you told me that I was going to be in this position five years later, I probably would have called you a liar."
The numbers don't lie. Garland is No. 1 all-time at Georgia in the decathlon with his collegiate-record score of 8,720. Tilga, the 2021 NCAA decathlon (and heptathlon) champion, is second at 8,484. Erm, the 2019 NCAA decathlon champion, is third at 8,445, followed by Uibo, the 2014 and '15 NCAA decathlon champion, at 8,356.
Whether or not Garland can top his collegiate record in his final collegiate meet remains to be seen. But once he's no longer an amateur, he'll be pursuing the biggest goals of them all: Olympic and world championship gold, and the world record.
France's Kevin Mayer is the current world-record holder, posting a score of 9,126 in 2018. Only four men have ever topped 9,000, and Garland wants to join that exclusive club, and then lead it.
"How can we get to the 9,000 point mark? Ultimately, it will be, how can we get this world record?" said Garland, whose collegiate-record score of 8,720 is the 16th-best score ever. "You can't discount a 9,000-point score; you can't even discount 8,700 points. Only 15 people have ever done that. That's good company to be in."
Thomas said Garland still has plenty of room to improve, and score more points, in "every field event."
"I think the discus and the javelin are two areas where he's ready for a breakthrough," Thomas said. "He's shown it in practices, and he's just got to line it up."
Garland may hold the collegiate record as well as the top collegiate score in 2023, but he's still going to have to work for every point to win the decathlon this week. His 8,589 this spring leads the field, but not far behind is Texas' Leo Neugebauer, who comes in seeded second with a score of 8,478, just 111 points behind. Nobody else has scored even 8,100 this year, so it figures to be a two-man battle for the top spot on the podium.
"You've got to go out there and do what you know you're capable of doing, and trust your training," Garland said. "I'm always aware of the other guys out there in the competition, and I wish the best for everybody, and I love a good competitive rivalry.
"I'm excited to go out there and execute. I'm excited to go out there alongside Coach Thomas and just put on a show like we always do. I think if that happens, we're going to have a fun time, and a great result will come of it."
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.
