The road to the track and field state meet is lined with hard work, dedication, talent and, in the case of two pole vaulters from Plainfield Central High School, trips to the doctor's office.

Justin Small and Josh Winder both qualified in the pole vault competition at the Class AA Plainfield Central Sectional on May 18. Their accomplishments were made sweeter by the physical roadblocks each had to overcome.

For Small, it was a broken foot suffered two months before the sectional. For Winder, it was a sore back that made the early portion of the track season a painful one.

"It's pretty amazing from my perspective," Small said. "I've only been back for two weeks. I broke my foot eight weeks ago today, right at the end of indoor (track season). I was so scared but I came back for conference and reached 14-feet, 3-inches there. I came here, I was really nervous all week. I just wanted to go downstate again and this was the event I knew I could do it in."

In case there was any doubt about Small's full recovery, he also qualified for the state meet as part of Central's 400-meter relay team.

"I like proving people wrong, people who didn't think I could do this after a broken foot," Small said. "Only my coach, my father and Josh believed I could do it."

Small, who will attend the University of Illinois-Chicago, again cleared 14-3 at sectional to qualify for state.

"My goal downstate is to clear 15 feet," Small said of this weekend's meet. "That's been my goal all season. I want to clear 15 before I go to college."

Winder has two years to worry about college plans. Only a sophomore, Winder is returning for his second trip to state after reaching 14-6 at the sectional meet.

Early in the season, overcoming back pain was on top of Winder's wish list.

"It's been a long journey," he said. "Small and I have been through a lot, fighting a lot of injuries, my back, his foot. A lot of stuff has happened but finally we're back together. This was the right week to do it."

Winder had hoped to make 14-6 at the sectional and had to renew his concentration to be successful.

"I knew all I needed was the right technique to get over the bar," Winder said. "I knew I wasn't going to make it if I was thinking about making it. I just had to concentrate on the technique.

"I'm psyched about state. I didn't perform as well as I wished to here, but the whole object is to get downstate. That's awesome that we're going. To go down there freshman year was the best experience I ever had. You get the lay of the land and you get to experience it all, it was a great experience."