Kansas' Scott Sellers is one of the United States most promising high jumpers. He blasted onto the national scene in high school, collecting a personal best and national record of 7 feet, 5 ¼ inches in the high jump. Since entering college he has jumped 7 feet, 7 ¼ inches and won the 2007 NCAA Championships.

Can you give me your goals for indoor track this season?

Well, I'd like to improve on what I accomplished last year. I finished third at the National Championships and PRed by a centimeter. I'd like to go back to Fayetteville and try to win a national championship and jump a little bit higher. I'm looking to jump 2.30m this year indoors. If I can do that, I'll be in pretty good shape.

What are some of the differences of jumping indoors and jumping outdoors?

Indoors is still really early in the season. We tend to focus on the bigger meets outdoors, which are usually in mid-June and July. The meets that are taking place in February and March aren't quite as important. They're still very meaningful, they're just not on the same level as say the Olympic Trials or the outdoor National Championships.

Can you give me your progression through high jumping? Did you start off not jumping that high?

Yeah, I started in the eighth grade and I wasn't really that good at all. I think I jumped 5'2 the whole season. Then I got to high school and started training, got a coach who was a little more educated in the event and jumped 6'10 my freshman year, 7'3 1/4 my sophomore year, 7'5 1/4 my junior year and 7' 5 my senior year. But initially I wasn't all the great at high jumping, but I figured I'd try it another year and see if I could turn it around and it ended up going pretty well.

What about dunking a basketball? I'm assuming you were dunking in between your eighth and ninth grade years?

Yeah, I played a lot of basketball when I was younger. I could first dunk in the middle of my eighth grade year. And that's pretty much all I worked on is everyday just trying to touch the rim, grabbing the rim, dunking a tennis ball, and then half-way through my eighth grade year I could dunk a basketball.

Do you remember the first one?

Oh yeah! Of course! I think a few friends of mine and I just finished a game of 21. I had an older friend who was like 6'8 and could dunk when he was in seventh grade. He was kind of just dunking around and I was feeling pretty good, so I just took the ball and missed the first two or three and finally got it on the fourth one. It was pretty awesome.

Have you ever measured your vertical?

Yeah, we do some testing a couple times a year and we measure it. I've gone 40 inches before but it's usually around 38.

Do you still play any basketball or have you had to put it aside because of your jumping?

In the fall I still play, but not nearly as much as I used to. Every spring I stay away from the basketball courts. I'm not so much concerned on hurting myself as I am about some of the other guys who I play with get a little too competitive and it's just not worth the risk.

You're prioritizing your jumping ahead of your basketball?

Yeah, I have to. I'm not nearly as good of a basketball player as I am at high jump.

What's your team like at Kansas, is it a close-knit team?

Yeah, we're real close. We spend so much time lifting and training together, and traveling during the season. Everyone here is really close friends. Pretty much every weekend someone will host a little get together and we will go to everyone else's house and it's a really cool atmosphere.

How's your training going right now?

The way we set up our training here is we try to get decent marks in the beginning of the season, where we try to get our automatic and provisional marks early in the season which will allow us to train at full capacity for about two months. We can go into the National Championships on the top of our game. I got my automatic mark in December, so right now I'm in the middle of just training really hard. The meets we're going to now are just more like practice. I've only done high jump practice two times this year. It's still a little early, but things are going really well.

Are you looking to do any doubles/triples at these meets with long jump and triple jump?

Yeah. I only high jump about two meets a month and the other meets I'm either on a relay or I'm doing long jump or triple jump. Actually in a few weeks I think I'm going to be doing the long and triple. I get a variety of events.

Can you give me your goals for your long jumping and triple jumping?

I think right now I'm underperforming (definitely in the long jump). I can jump much, much farther than I am right now. I'd like to jump about 7.60m in the long jump. Triple jump is still a difficult event, but anything over 50 feet I'd be happy with.

What's your PR right now in the triple?

It's like 49'6.

Would you say the high school to college transition went well for you since you succeeded so early in high school?

It wasn't easy, just because of the training and the lifestyle is so different. I was fairly successful my freshman year, but it's just night and day in terms of training and the amount of discipline it takes. With that said, I think if you're willing to come into college your freshman year and realize you might not PR, but be willing to put in the work, the transition really isn't too bad.

Here's the good one: how high do you think you can go?

I don't know, but I'm pretty optimistic. I don't think there's a limit (within reason). I think this year, if I can improve on some things, I could jump 2.35m-2.36m. I think a couple years down the road, through more solid years of training, I think I could jump 2.40m. At least that's what I'm training toward. I think it's going to take a lot of work and a little bit of luck, but it can be done.

Do you think when you reach that point in your career you'll still going to be doing triple and long jump?

I think by then, I'll be too specialized in the high jump to mess around with other events. But, on the other hand, they are really effective for cross training. I would still do it in the off-season and in the earlier meets because it helps you with things in the high jump, but I don't think I'd really be doing it that much.

Are you already looking toward the end of the outdoor season with the Trials and everything?

Well, I try not to think about it too much, but that really is the focus. That's a huge meet for me and a lot of other athletes. I don't think about it too much right now, but the way my season is set up, it's geared toward it as being the most important meet.