Century's Shaun Wysocki is soaring like never before

Apr. 19—ROCHESTER — Shaun Wysocki didn't want to wait long. So he didn't.

Just three meets into this season, the Century track-and-field star and all-around athlete did what he set out to do. He broke the school record in the triple jump, his explosive 6-foot-6 inch frame elegantly bounding 45 feet, 9 1/4 inches.

The original record had been 45-2, set in 2011 by Landon Thurman. Wysocki also has his eyes on another Century mark. That one is 22-4 in the long jump, a record set in 2005 by Derek LeBlanc. He figures to pick that one off by season's end. Just a few meets in, he's already gone 21-10.

"Our first meet of the year this season, I was just 2 or 3 inches away from the triple jump record," Wysocki said. "Then my coaches said, 'This is the year.' I wanted to get it even faster than I did, but we had a second meet where they didn't do the triple jump."

At first glance, what Wysocki has done is all the more incredible considering that track and field isn't even his best or nearly main sport. That is basketball, where the high-leaping forward was named this season's Big Nine Conference Player of the Year. Wysocki spent the winter months as a kind of high school human-highlight film, soaring for 31 dunks and averaging a lofty 19 points and 10 rebounds per game. He'll take all of that talent to Division II basketball power Minnesota State University Moorhead in the fall.

When it comes to Wysocki, basketball and track and field have never been at odds. Rather, they've been the perfect complement. Basketball, with all of its running and jumping, has built his legs and stamina for track and field, where Wysocki isn't just a jumper, but also a 200 and 400-meter runner. He's no slouch there, either, including having run one of his 4x400-really team's fastest splits, 53 seconds. And in basketball, his track-and-field workouts have made him one of the best runners and most spectacular jumpers and dunkers in Minnesota high school basketball.

"Days like we had at (track-and-field) practice today, I get tired," Wysocki said Monday. "But then I remember what this is going to do for me in basketball. If I keep my body good, I won't get tired playing basketball. In the final 2 minutes, I'll really be ready to go."

He is a rare and special athlete. And at 6-feet-6, he's a sight to behold.

"I remember last year saying that as long as (Wysocki) stays healthy, he can do anything for you (in track and field)," Century second-year coach Eric Gahr said. "We're testing that more this year. We have him doing the 4x200 and 4x400 and the open 200. He's faster now than he's ever been and that is the biggest thing about him."

Faster and bigger and stronger, too. Wysocki is a worker's worker. He spent the summer grinding things out at ETS, doing much of his working out with older brother Jaden, a sophomore basketball player at Minot State University.

"I'd be in there all day, working on speed and quickness, doing plyometrics and squats, and working on my mobility and flexibility in general," Wysocki said. "I'd do back squats, body work, weighted lunges, dips — all that stuff. I increased my leg size and got a lot stronger and more mobile. I'm a tall guy, so flexibility had always been a problem for me before. I'd also do stretching every night. Now, everything is paying off."

Gahr sees a different Wysocki this track-and-field season. Last year's version was plenty good, and accomplished enough to qualify for the state meet for the first time, in the triple jump. His best triple mark a year ago was 44-2. At state, he went what for him was a disappointing 42-8 1/4, which left him in 14th place.

From the way he not only looks but is acting this season, expect a much better ending for Wysocki.

For the first time in his high school track-and-field career, he is not also doing AAU basketball in the spring. Right now, it's just track and field, with some individual hoops workouts on the side.

As much as basketball has helped the track-and-field side of Wysocki over the years, Gahr says that having the senior's energy tossed into one sport only this spring has been just the thing.

For now and the next nine weeks, Wysocki is a track-and-field guy. Gahr has to admit, he likes it like that. This is the most focused he's seen his 6-6 star.

And there has been no arguing with the results. One school record is already in his pocket. Now watch him double up.

"There is no AAU this time," Gahr said. "Shaun is just 100 percent dialed in."