Kansas State University Athletics
SE: How TJ Shankar Found Growth, K-State Connections in a Lost Season
Jun 01, 2020 | Men's Track & Field, Sports Extra
By: Austin Siegel
You need to drive past – in order – Cox Brothers BBQ, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and an IHOP to get to the little warehouse in Manhattan, home of Konza Strength Gym.
It might seem an unlikely place for two of the best athletes at K-State to meet, but running that gauntlet of fast food and 24/7 breakfast for a workout is exactly how Tejaswin Shankar met Wyatt Hubert for the first time.
With K-State stadiums and athletic facilities closed during the remote semester, Shankar has gotten creative in bridging the gap between his junior year with the Wildcats and a senior season that could end at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Without a gym membership, Shankar said he would have "gone insane" after the indoor track season ended just days before he was supposed to compete at the NCAA Championships.
So, he's spent the last few months training at Konza Strength alongside the rest of Manhattan. That's where Shankar noticed a few K-State football players getting in workouts at the gym.
When they started chatting, Hubert introduced himself.
"I read about him and heard a lot of stuff, but every time you see a football picture, they have their helmets on, so I didn't put the face and the person together," Shankar said.
On the heels of an All-Big 12 season at defensive end, Hubert is another student-athlete with aspirations that can't exactly be put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"He said he was just training to stay in shape so that when things start back up, he would be in great shape and wouldn't lose what he already gained," Shankar said. "That really motivated me to see that somebody who's had some success in their field is still putting in the work."
It's a role Shankar is more than familiar with – during his first three seasons at K-State, Shankar is a three-time All-American and NCAA champion in the men's high jump, with the school record in the pentathlon to round out his college resume.
The New Delhi native also holds India's national record in the indoor and outdoor high jump, clearing 2.28m/7-05.75 indoor and 2.29m/7-06 outdoors on his record-breaking leaps.
The spring season was supposed to be among the busiest of Shankar's career, with the outdoor season at K-State coming ahead of a crucial summer full of international competition.
After Shankar returned from the canceled NCAA Indoor Championships, everything on his schedule began to disappear, one event after the other.
First the NCAA outdoor season. Then the national championships back home in India. Finally, the Olympics were postponed to next summer.
"If you have something to look forward to, you're able to put more energy into what you're doing," Shankar said. "That was the biggest challenge for me right after indoor nationals got canceled. Everything was very uncertain, because you didn't know what was next."
After meeting with Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto, Shankar realized he had the option of taking some time off from training, but his coach would be there to help if he wanted to continue preparing for…whatever came next. It wasn't a hard decision.
"Since that day, the week after indoor nationals, I've been training non-stop just like a normal season," Shankar said. "The plan is to train as if we are competing – Big 12s would have been two weeks ago, outdoor nationals are coming up next week. Though there's nothing, for training purposes the only thing I'm not able to do is jump. But in my mind, I'm thinking 'OK that's the meet I have to look forward to.'"
Keeping his workout schedule in tune with the rhythms of a normal season has helped Shankar balance training and rest days without the structure of competition. He's also had time to give other sports a try, picking up golf and learning to shoot at his roommate's ranch in Colorado.
The time away from competition has also given Shankar an opportunity to explore other events where he can build on his high jumping experience. The heptathlon caught his eye as a unique combination of events he's already strong in and one completely new challenge: the pole vault.
Of course, calling All-American heptathlete Lauren Taubert a teammate doesn't hurt either.
"Lauren's really smart but she's also very nice, so when you talk to her, she's just like, 'Oh yes, TJ you can do whatever you want.' I think sometimes she's not always honest, but she's very nice," Shankar said. "Next year, Lauren should do really well. She would have done really, really well at NCAA Indoors if the shutdown hadn't happened."
Pole vaulting will require Shankar to approach the exact same goal, clearing a bar, with an approach and jumping motion that is completely different from the high jump.
Training for an upper-body dominant event has helped him develop as a more well-rounded athlete, something that Shankar said is at the heart of Coach Rovelto's philosophy at K-State.
"I like the way he approaches training. At this level, the idea is not necessarily to specialize but have a very high general athletic ability," he said.
For Shankar, it's why training alongside athletes from outside the world of high jumping, like Taubert or Hubert back at Konza Strength can hold so much value.
"Once you turn professional, nobody's going to care how fast you run the 400 or your score in the pentathlon, at least for high jump," Shankar said. "So, this is the time to contribute to the team and make myself a better athlete, and hopefully, a better high jumper."
You need to drive past – in order – Cox Brothers BBQ, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and an IHOP to get to the little warehouse in Manhattan, home of Konza Strength Gym.
It might seem an unlikely place for two of the best athletes at K-State to meet, but running that gauntlet of fast food and 24/7 breakfast for a workout is exactly how Tejaswin Shankar met Wyatt Hubert for the first time.
With K-State stadiums and athletic facilities closed during the remote semester, Shankar has gotten creative in bridging the gap between his junior year with the Wildcats and a senior season that could end at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Without a gym membership, Shankar said he would have "gone insane" after the indoor track season ended just days before he was supposed to compete at the NCAA Championships.
So, he's spent the last few months training at Konza Strength alongside the rest of Manhattan. That's where Shankar noticed a few K-State football players getting in workouts at the gym.
When they started chatting, Hubert introduced himself.
"I read about him and heard a lot of stuff, but every time you see a football picture, they have their helmets on, so I didn't put the face and the person together," Shankar said.
On the heels of an All-Big 12 season at defensive end, Hubert is another student-athlete with aspirations that can't exactly be put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"He said he was just training to stay in shape so that when things start back up, he would be in great shape and wouldn't lose what he already gained," Shankar said. "That really motivated me to see that somebody who's had some success in their field is still putting in the work."
It's a role Shankar is more than familiar with – during his first three seasons at K-State, Shankar is a three-time All-American and NCAA champion in the men's high jump, with the school record in the pentathlon to round out his college resume.
The New Delhi native also holds India's national record in the indoor and outdoor high jump, clearing 2.28m/7-05.75 indoor and 2.29m/7-06 outdoors on his record-breaking leaps.
The spring season was supposed to be among the busiest of Shankar's career, with the outdoor season at K-State coming ahead of a crucial summer full of international competition.
After Shankar returned from the canceled NCAA Indoor Championships, everything on his schedule began to disappear, one event after the other.
First the NCAA outdoor season. Then the national championships back home in India. Finally, the Olympics were postponed to next summer.
"If you have something to look forward to, you're able to put more energy into what you're doing," Shankar said. "That was the biggest challenge for me right after indoor nationals got canceled. Everything was very uncertain, because you didn't know what was next."
After meeting with Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Cliff Rovelto, Shankar realized he had the option of taking some time off from training, but his coach would be there to help if he wanted to continue preparing for…whatever came next. It wasn't a hard decision.
"Since that day, the week after indoor nationals, I've been training non-stop just like a normal season," Shankar said. "The plan is to train as if we are competing – Big 12s would have been two weeks ago, outdoor nationals are coming up next week. Though there's nothing, for training purposes the only thing I'm not able to do is jump. But in my mind, I'm thinking 'OK that's the meet I have to look forward to.'"
Keeping his workout schedule in tune with the rhythms of a normal season has helped Shankar balance training and rest days without the structure of competition. He's also had time to give other sports a try, picking up golf and learning to shoot at his roommate's ranch in Colorado.
The time away from competition has also given Shankar an opportunity to explore other events where he can build on his high jumping experience. The heptathlon caught his eye as a unique combination of events he's already strong in and one completely new challenge: the pole vault.
Of course, calling All-American heptathlete Lauren Taubert a teammate doesn't hurt either.
"Lauren's really smart but she's also very nice, so when you talk to her, she's just like, 'Oh yes, TJ you can do whatever you want.' I think sometimes she's not always honest, but she's very nice," Shankar said. "Next year, Lauren should do really well. She would have done really, really well at NCAA Indoors if the shutdown hadn't happened."
Pole vaulting will require Shankar to approach the exact same goal, clearing a bar, with an approach and jumping motion that is completely different from the high jump.
Training for an upper-body dominant event has helped him develop as a more well-rounded athlete, something that Shankar said is at the heart of Coach Rovelto's philosophy at K-State.
"I like the way he approaches training. At this level, the idea is not necessarily to specialize but have a very high general athletic ability," he said.
For Shankar, it's why training alongside athletes from outside the world of high jumping, like Taubert or Hubert back at Konza Strength can hold so much value.
"Once you turn professional, nobody's going to care how fast you run the 400 or your score in the pentathlon, at least for high jump," Shankar said. "So, this is the time to contribute to the team and make myself a better athlete, and hopefully, a better high jumper."
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