SE: Shankar Brings Maturity, Better Mindset into Quest to Defend NCAA Title
Jun 07, 2019 | Track & Field, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
Last year was a dream for Tejaswin Shankar.
K-State's star high jumper out of India broke his country's indoor and outdoor national records, cleared a personal-best 2.29m/7-06, and he won an NCAA Outdoor Championship with a clutch, third-attempt clearance in the rain to end his freshman campaign.
"I was able to do everything I wanted," he said. "Everything I touched turned to gold."
This year has been a lesson for Shankar. A constant one. But, in his eyes, it's been beneficial, and it should give him a better chance to become the first male high jumper to win back-to-back NCAA outdoor high jump titles since former Wildcat Erik Kynard, Jr., in 2011 and 2012.
"I feel (I've added) more maturity. I didn't add another centimeter to my jump, but I did add on some leaps of philosophy," Shankar said, who looks to defend his title at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Friday in Austin, Texas. "I think that's what's going to help me in the long run."
Shankar's newfound philosophy?
"You can't really chase the centimeters, but chase the process," he said. "So as long as I can do that perfectly, then I think I'll be good."
This season, Shankar learned the hard way that the opposite approach does not bode well for him. Ironically, he started off the year on a relatively high note. He cleared 2.25m/7-04.5 in his first serious indoor competition.
"That's a huge jump to open with. I was really excited. I was, like, 'This year I'm probably going to break the world record or something,'" laughed Shankar, who started to become obsessed with hitting 2.30m/7-06.5, the standard to qualify for the World Championships. "That's the only thing that was on my mind."
Three weeks later, Shankar cleared only two of his five jumps at the Texas Tech Shootout. He finished fourth at 2.17m/7-01.5. It was more than eye opening, he said.
"The first time I felt the tremors of the earthquake was at Texas Tech," he said, metaphorically speaking. "I wasn't taking the positives or the negatives from the meet like I did last year, where I'd sit down and analyze what I did right and what I did wrong. This year, I was thinking about getting that one mark and chasing something rather than letting it come to you."
Shankar tried to reverse this mindset. For a time, it worked. He won the Big 12 indoor title by clearing 2.28m/7-05.75 on his second attempt at the height. In hindsight, he can see why the meet went so well.
"I never thought about winning the Big 12. All I thought about was, 'I need to run my approach properly, not to lean forward,' and all those technical things," he said. "I was able to do that properly and that resulted in a good jump. But, going into nationals, I still couldn't understand why I did what I did at Big 12s."
So, Shankar repeated the same hard lesson.
In his first NCAA Indoor Championship — he missed last season's for India's national meet — Shankar started thinking about that 2.30 number again. Plus, he had already won one NCAA title, so winning another should be no trouble.
"Those are the kind of thoughts I was thinking," he said, "and then I fell on my face."
Shankar managed only to clear 2.20m/7-02.5 to tie for ninth at the NCAA Indoor Championships. It was another learning moment.
This time, however, the lesson stuck.
Shankar opened the outdoor season at 2.25m/7-04.5 and has jumped at or above 2.20m/7-0.25 in every meet, the lone exception being the NCAA West Preliminary meet. There, he posted a perfect scorecard up to 2.16m/7-01, where he stopped jumping after clinching a spot into the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The regional meet followed Shankar's second Big 12 title of the season. He dominated the outdoor conference meet, winning it when he sailed over his third bar (2.18m/7-01.75) on his first attempt. He finished at 2.26m/7-05 for fun.
"My scorecard at Big 12s was really good. At regionals, I had a perfect card, so that's the kind of thing I'm looking for going from this point forward," he said. "I'm not really worried about the heights but making sure I have a clean card, and with every jump I'm jumping, even if it's 2.10, that I'm just thinking about that height at that time, rather than worrying about 2.30. Because if I don't make 2.10 and go on to the next height, I'll never get to 2.30."
Last year was a dream for Tejaswin Shankar.
K-State's star high jumper out of India broke his country's indoor and outdoor national records, cleared a personal-best 2.29m/7-06, and he won an NCAA Outdoor Championship with a clutch, third-attempt clearance in the rain to end his freshman campaign.
"I was able to do everything I wanted," he said. "Everything I touched turned to gold."
This year has been a lesson for Shankar. A constant one. But, in his eyes, it's been beneficial, and it should give him a better chance to become the first male high jumper to win back-to-back NCAA outdoor high jump titles since former Wildcat Erik Kynard, Jr., in 2011 and 2012.
"I feel (I've added) more maturity. I didn't add another centimeter to my jump, but I did add on some leaps of philosophy," Shankar said, who looks to defend his title at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Friday in Austin, Texas. "I think that's what's going to help me in the long run."
Shankar's newfound philosophy?
"You can't really chase the centimeters, but chase the process," he said. "So as long as I can do that perfectly, then I think I'll be good."
This season, Shankar learned the hard way that the opposite approach does not bode well for him. Ironically, he started off the year on a relatively high note. He cleared 2.25m/7-04.5 in his first serious indoor competition.
"That's a huge jump to open with. I was really excited. I was, like, 'This year I'm probably going to break the world record or something,'" laughed Shankar, who started to become obsessed with hitting 2.30m/7-06.5, the standard to qualify for the World Championships. "That's the only thing that was on my mind."
Three weeks later, Shankar cleared only two of his five jumps at the Texas Tech Shootout. He finished fourth at 2.17m/7-01.5. It was more than eye opening, he said.
"The first time I felt the tremors of the earthquake was at Texas Tech," he said, metaphorically speaking. "I wasn't taking the positives or the negatives from the meet like I did last year, where I'd sit down and analyze what I did right and what I did wrong. This year, I was thinking about getting that one mark and chasing something rather than letting it come to you."
Shankar tried to reverse this mindset. For a time, it worked. He won the Big 12 indoor title by clearing 2.28m/7-05.75 on his second attempt at the height. In hindsight, he can see why the meet went so well.
"I never thought about winning the Big 12. All I thought about was, 'I need to run my approach properly, not to lean forward,' and all those technical things," he said. "I was able to do that properly and that resulted in a good jump. But, going into nationals, I still couldn't understand why I did what I did at Big 12s."
So, Shankar repeated the same hard lesson.
In his first NCAA Indoor Championship — he missed last season's for India's national meet — Shankar started thinking about that 2.30 number again. Plus, he had already won one NCAA title, so winning another should be no trouble.
"Those are the kind of thoughts I was thinking," he said, "and then I fell on my face."
Shankar managed only to clear 2.20m/7-02.5 to tie for ninth at the NCAA Indoor Championships. It was another learning moment.
This time, however, the lesson stuck.
Shankar opened the outdoor season at 2.25m/7-04.5 and has jumped at or above 2.20m/7-0.25 in every meet, the lone exception being the NCAA West Preliminary meet. There, he posted a perfect scorecard up to 2.16m/7-01, where he stopped jumping after clinching a spot into the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The regional meet followed Shankar's second Big 12 title of the season. He dominated the outdoor conference meet, winning it when he sailed over his third bar (2.18m/7-01.75) on his first attempt. He finished at 2.26m/7-05 for fun.
"My scorecard at Big 12s was really good. At regionals, I had a perfect card, so that's the kind of thing I'm looking for going from this point forward," he said. "I'm not really worried about the heights but making sure I have a clean card, and with every jump I'm jumping, even if it's 2.10, that I'm just thinking about that height at that time, rather than worrying about 2.30. Because if I don't make 2.10 and go on to the next height, I'll never get to 2.30."
Players Mentioned
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