LaMar Garrett enters his fifth year as an assistant track and field coach at Illinois State, specializing in the high jump and multi-events. In 2017, Garrett guided freshman Anthony McRoberts to a 14th place finish in high jump at the NCAA Division I West Preliminary Round and qualified two athletes to the USATF Junior Championships.
During the 2017 indoor season, Garrett coached James Brandenburg to a record-breaking performance in the men’s heptathlon at MVC Indoor Championships. His score of 5,185 points was not only an ISU-best, but was good enough for third place and All-Valley honors. En route to his third place finish, Brandenburg won the heptathlon long jump with a personal-best leap of 7.28m, a mark which is tied for sixth on the Redbird Top-10 List. Brandenburg capped off his spectacular MVC Championships performance with a sixth place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. His mark of 8.16 is the third-fastest time in the Illinois State record book.
In addition, Garrett guided freshman Anthony McRoberts and senior Haley Becker to All-Conference honors in the high jump at the 2017 MVC Indoor Championships. McRoberts finished second in the men’s competition with a jump of 2.12m, while Becker placed third on the women’s side. Francis Ehigbai also performed well in the high jump, finishing sixth. McRoberts' and Ehigbai's performances catapulted Garrett’s men's team into the 14th spot on the USTFCCCA’s High Jump Event Squad Rankings.
Also of note for the 2017 indoor season were the performances of Jordan Wilkerson and Tessa Holland in the multi-events at MVC Championships. Wilkerson placed seventh and earned the third-best mark in school history in the men’s heptathlon with 4,856 points, while Holland recorded an eighth place finish in the pentathlon.
Coach Garrett also aided hurdlers Jordyn Bruce and Holland to Top-10 performances, as they notched the ninth and tenth fastest marks in Illinois State history, respectively.
During the 2017 outdoor season, Garrett led Brandenburg to another All-MVC performance, this time in the decathlon. His score of 6,604 points not only earned him a second-place finish, but ranks fourth in Illinois State history. Brandenburg posted a solid performance in the 110-meter hurdles as well, finishing eighth and recording the ninth-fastest time in the Redbird record book.
Wilkerson and Holland also picked up right where they left off under Garrett’s aid. Wilkerson notched the sixth best mark in school history in the decathlon and Holland posted the fifth best mark in the pentathlon. Holland added a third-place, All-Conference performance in the high jump and a fifth place finish in the javelin. Her marks in these events rank fifth and eighth in ISU history, respectively.
Bruce had a great outdoor season as well, recording the sixth best time in Redbird history and placing fifth in the 400-meter hurdles at MVC Championships. She also competed at USATF Junior Nationals, finishing 12th in the 400-meter hurdles.
Garrett finished the outdoor season with a men’s high jump squad that was ranked 17th in the nation by the USTFCCCA. McRoberts’ 14th place finish at the NCAA Division I Preliminary Round and third place finish at USATF Junior Nationals (making him an alternate for Team USA) further justifies this honor.
In 2016, Garrett guided Holland to the second-best pentathlon performance in ISU history and a third-place, All-Valley performance in the high jump at MVC Indoor Championships. She would go on to qualify for the 2016 USATF Junior Championships following the outdoor season.
Garrett also helped Ehigbai to an All-Valley performance in high jump at the MVC Indoor Championships and Becker to a fourth-place high jump finish at MVC Outdoor Championships.
During the 2015 season, Garrett guided senior Kevin Fisch to a third-place, All-Conference finish in the high jump at MVC Indoor Championships. This marked Fisch’s second All-Valley performance of his career, as he finished third in the decathlon at the 2014 MVC Outdoor Championships.
Over the course of his career, Fisch captured the second-best heptathlon mark (5,145 points) and fifth-best decathlon mark (6,601 points) in ISU history. The only multi-eventer on the Redbird roster during his time at ISU, Garrett helped revive the ISU multi-event squad and turn it into what it is today.
Garrett joined the Redbird staff after a two-year stint at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he served as a volunteer assistant. During his two-year campaign, Garrett helped guide the Badgers to two Big Ten Conference Championships. With Garrett was the jumps coach, the Wisconsin men also captured a third-place finish at the 2013 NCAA Indoor National Championships.
While at Wisconsin-Madison, Garrett helped the Badgers record two Top-10 marks in the high jump and a Big Ten heptathlon record. He coached four NCAA first-round qualifiers in the high jump, one Olympic trials qualifier in the decathlon, and guided Japheth Cato to NCAA Indoor Heptathlon Runner-Up honors in 2012 and 2013.
Before joining the Wisconsin staff, Garrett was a volunteer coach at his former high school, Edmond Santa Fe, in Edmond, Oklahoma. While there, he worked with Gunnar Nixon, who set the junior class record in the decathlon. Nixon is the only high school athlete to score over 8,000 points. Garrett departed the following year to work with the Kansas State track and field team.
During his collegiate career, Garrett spent three years as a student-athlete at Kansas State where he was a three-time All-Big 12 selection. A member of the Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2007 and 2008, he received a bachelor’s degree in social science and a master’s degree in counseling and student development/athletic administration.
Before transferring to Kansas State, Garrett spent one season at Independence Community College. Within that year, he claimed the 2004 indoor and outdoor high jump national title, received All-American accolades in the high jump, and was named to the ICC Hall of Fame.
