Georgia standout, world leader from Florida will test themselves against deep fields headlined by Olympians in Arkansas, before shifting focus to NCAA postseason

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Kyle Garland and Anna Hall both passed last year on the opportunities to win NCAA Division 1 Outdoor Championships in order to prepare to compete in the combined events at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

With a more favorable schedule this season, two of the elite collegiate competitors have the opportunity first to qualify to represent the U.S. at the World Outdoor Championships and still pursue NCAA titles as well.

Garland, representing Georgia, and his former teammate Hall – now a standout at Florida – will be two of the youngest, but most promising athletes competing Friday and Saturday at the USATF Combined Events Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.

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Garland is one of 15 competitors entered in the men’s decathlon, with fellow 21-year-old standout Hall among 12 entries scheduled to participate in the women’s heptathlon.

Garrett Scantling, Steven Bastien and Zach Ziemek – the three American decathlon representatives at the Tokyo Olympics – are all entered, along with Kendell Williams and Erica Bougard, two of the U.S. heptathlon entries to compete last year. Annie Kunz, the reigning heptathlon champion, is not entered.

Williams has already qualified for the World Championships, scheduled for July 15-24 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., after winning the World Athletics Combined Events Tour last year.

The top three athletes who have met the qualifying standards of 8,350 points in the decathlon and 6,420 points in the heptathlon will be eligible to represent the U.S. at the World Championships.

Garland finished sixth at the Olympic Trials last year with 8,140 points and boasts a personal-best 8,196 points from last season. He accumulated 8,133 points April 8-9 at the Tennessee Relays.

“I feel as though Tennessee was more of a mental test as opposed to a physical test. At that meet I learned that I was not as mentally locked in as I needed to be for this season,” Garland said. “Although I put up a respectable score, it did not reflect the work that I had been putting in at practice throughout the season.”

Scantling won the U.S. title last year with 8,647 points, with Bastien scoring 8,485 points and Ziemek amassing 8,471 points.

“In relation to the last four weeks, I think that these have been some of the most important weeks of my life,” Garland said. “I had to tap into a new level of discipline and a new level of motivation to prepare for this meet both mentally and physically. I genuinely began to understand the importance of bodily maintenance and how much of a difference it can make in mental and physical confidence. I am super excited about the next two days of competition with a great group of guys.”

Williams, who secured a bronze medal March 18 in the pentathlon at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Serbia, boasts a personal-best 6,683 points in the heptathlon. Bougard’s top career performance of 6,725 points came in 2018.

Hall nearly achieved the World standard with her lifetime-best 6,412 points March 23-24 at the 94th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, which enters the event as the top global score this year.

“The biggest thing I learned at Texas Relays was that it’s not about having the ‘perfect multi,’ it’s just about executing well across the board,” Hall said. “I think oftentimes I go in hoping to hit exact goals in certain events, but that’s what I learned at Texas that even missing some of those, if I just keep fighting, the points will add up in different ways.”

Hall, who suffered an ankle injury in the 100-meter hurdles in the first event of the heptathlon at the Olympic Trials that resulted in her not finishing the competition and later required surgery, captured the Division 1 indoor pentathlon title March 11 in Birmingham, Ala.

She concluded her heptathlon opener in Austin by running 2:04.61 in the 800 meters, the fastest performance ever produced by a collegiate athlete in the combined events.

“Taking away that definitely gave me so much relief of the pressure and confidence going back to training knowing I can be rock solid in all the events across the board and the big marks and breakthroughs will come when they are meant to, but it’s my job to focus on execution and consistency only,” Hall said. “Individually, the biggest thing I took away from Texas was I began to run through the board in long jump. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a mental breakthrough that was positively rewarded, so I went back to training chasing more of that same feeling.”

Williams knows that Hall will have added motivation to perform well in Arkansas after not being able to complete the full two-day schedule at the Olympic Trials last year in Oregon.

“She is proving that she is very fit and very capable of carrying the torch for Team USA heptathletes, and I think that is always a good feeling,” Williams said. “I know people like Sharon Day, Barbara Nwaba and Heather Miller-Koch, they were happy to see another group of heptathletes that they could pass the torch to, and I think that’s how we feel looking at Anna and some of the younger girls. We know that the future of USA heptathletes is in good hands, they just have to stay healthy and keep chasing after their goals.”

Scantling is ready to witness a breakthrough performance in the decathlon from Garland, who placed second at the past two Division 1 indoor heptathlon finals.

“I have all the faith in Kyle’s abilities. It’s all about him just staying level. Obviously he loves to get hyped and loves to have fun, just like me, because we’re very emotional competitors. But it’s all about just knowing your limits and knowing when to level it off and just focus and complete the task at hand and move on,” Scantling said. “He’s so talented and he’s got all these great things happening for him and coming for him, but it’s all about staying level and staying focused on the task at hand and not getting too far ahead of yourself. I think just having these types of meets early on in his career is going to set him up for the future and for him to be able to go to a U.S. Championships and then get ready a few weeks later for an Olympics or World Championships.”

Harrison Williams and Joseph Delgado, who placed fourth and fifth at the Olympic Trials, are also scheduled to compete, along with Sam Black, the runner-up in February in the heptathlon at the USATF Indoor Championships at The Podium in Spokane, Wash. Black also finished 10th in the decathlon at the Olympic Trials.

Jack Flood has also returned after securing ninth at the Olympic Trials, along with Devon Williams and Hunter Price, who were unable to complete the decathlon in Eugene.

Mat Clark, Josh Cogdill, Dylan Cooper, William Eggers and Jackson Walker are also scheduled to compete.

Michelle Atherley, Ashtin Mahler, Chari Hawkins and Hope Bender, who finished fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth at the Olympic Trials, are entered in the heptathlon.

Former Arkansas standout Taliyah Brooks, the 2018 Division 1 indoor pentathlon champion who still trains in Fayetteville, returns to the heptathlon after not being able to complete the Olympic Trials as a result of heat exhaustion.

Brooks, who boasts a personal-best 6,252 points, was in fourth place entering the javelin in Oregon, before fainting and receiving medical attention.

Cheyenne Williamson, the reigning NCAA Division 2 indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon champion at Saginaw Valley State, is also scheduled to participate, along with Alissa Brooks-Johnson, Sarah Glidden and Melanie Winters.