CHARLESTON -- Forget about her God-given talents.

Nobody doubts Jenna Wexter's size. Nor her strength. Nor her speed.

The Lincoln-Way Central High School junior is successful because she rates an "A" in the area of intangible qualities. She has willpower. She has guts.

And she also has an award-winning support team.

On the rare occasion when she is feeling down, somebody always is there to pick her up. That somebody could be her pole vault coach. That somebody could be a teammate. That somebody could be a parent or a sibling.

She cannot possibly fail, not even when she dares to climb new heights on a stage as grand as that of the Class AA girls state track and field meet. Hers is a story of personal triumph.

She had to give up gymnastics as a youngster because of the strain it put on her back. The girl has spina bifida, for goodness sakes. She took up a new sport. She found in track a new source of joy and inspiration and new kind of heartache.

She battled most of this spring to overcome a mysterious quad injury. Finally, her doctors told her she was too skinny. She needed to eat more and take in plenty of liquids.

Otherwise, her muscles would tighten up.

Wexter's pain was so intense at times she couldn't pole vault. She sat on the sidelines for more than month. She returned on time to win conference and sectional championships. And now she has a chance to score a miraculous hat track.

She could become the first Lincoln-Way Central girl ever to win the Class AA pole vault crown if she puts together another Wexter-like performance in today's finals. She cleared 10-6 and 10-9 on her two vaults in Friday's prelims and looked ready to hang once again with Marian Catholic rival Melissa Gergel.

Wexter beat Gergel at the Prep Top Times indoor state meet on a technicality. Both jumped 12-0. Wexter won because she had fewer misses.

She always wins.

"Yeah, not only them," Wexter said of the support she receives from her family, "but all of my other teammates are always there for me. They come and help me stretch. They come and give me hugs when they know I'm nervous.

"My coaches are always here, Mr. Hoffman and Coach Waddell. If he wasn't there, I don't know what I would do. He keeps my nerves down and he keeps the jokes up so I'm not freaking out."

Coach Waddell is otherwise known in the business as Dusty Waddell. He was the one who suggested Wexter use two hands after she lost her grip on the pole at the Minooka Sectional. That pole snapped back and smacked Wexter on the leg.

When it was determined she was OK, everybody laughed.

To this day, Wexter shows her toughness when she shows off her welt.

Mr. Hoffman is Phil Hoffman, the man who has brought the Knights' track program back to the point of relevance. He was leaning on the chain link fence watching Wexter do her thing on a glorious Friday afternoon at O'Brien Stadium.

Her thing involved a lot of sitting around and waiting. Eventually, her turn would come.

"No, you know what, she's a competitor," Waddell said. "She sits down, kind of relaxes a little bit. I told her to keep a smile on her face. And she's ready to go. Last year she was new to the show. This year she's just calm, cool, collected and ready to roll."

Waddell has a theory that Wexter has learned to put her jitters aside because she has had to overcome so much other adversity. She has become a model of what a young girl can do with a little bit of belief and a whole lot of desire.

"I don't think there is a thing on this planet that could stop Wexter from jumping," Waddell said. "She loves it so much. I told her to calm down, relax, and make sure your legs are good. She was like, 'Coach I'm ready. It doesn't matter. Everything's going to work out. Let's go. I'm fine.' I can't stop her from jumping.

"That's what you want from a vaulter."

Wexter is a bright light, shining even when she's hurting. Take that quad.

"It was really tough," Waddell said. "She had a huge knot in it. We were really worried about it. She just couldn't get enough fluids in her. After talking to her doctor, she was drinking like four Gatorades a day. She was going to therapy to have it massaged out.

"She had missed 2-3 weeks of actual competing. We brought her right back in at conference. She jumped 10-6, went to 11-6 and went to 12-3. She just keeps going."

She has no choice.

"She's got speed, strength -- she's on the honor roll," Waddell said. "Her entire family is just genetically superstars, all top athletes, all top students. So, it's a great job by her family for just being supportive. I haven't seen them not at a meet.

"It's one of those rare families that are just very supportive. It's good to see. I think that's why it does work for her. That support, that little bond with her family, with three kids all doing varsity sports. Her parents -- they're everywhere. It's a real testament to them."

Randy and Sara Wexter are Jenna's top fans. Halli, her older sister, is a senior who is planning to attend Miami (Ohio) next year. She played golf and badminton for the Knights. Connor, her younger brother, is a freshman boys volleyball sensation.

What is they say? The family that plays together stays together?