Jocelyn Witmer, Penn Manor’s junior pole vaulter, is having an incredible season. And that she’s doing what she’s doing while competing with a broken foot makes it even more incredible. Here’s my story from Thursday’s New Era: 

Jocelyn Witmer should not have won the Lancaster-Lebanon League pole vault championship last Saturday – with a record-breaking vault of 12-feet even, by the way.

She should not be the No. 1 seed in the District 3 Triple-A pole vault event this Saturday at Shippensburg University, either.

Heck, she probably shouldn’t have even come out for track and field this season.

If Witmer would have listened to her doctors earlier this spring, she would have spent the last two months with a cast on her broken right foot.

But she wasn’t hearing it.

“I was like, ‘No way!’” said Witmer, a junior home-schooler who competes for Penn Manor.

“I wasn’t going to give up on this year. I was going to do whatever I had to do – after the season. For me, the pole vault is No. 1 right now.”

It nearly wasn’t – which makes Witmer’s vault in the L-L League Meet - and the No. 1 seed for Districts that came along with it - even more incredible.

While competing in a cross country meet for the Comets last fall, Witmer stepped in a hole and broke her right foot. She took some time off this winter. But when she came out for track and field this spring, she re-aggravated the injury.

The bone had healed, but doctors found tendon and nerve damage in Witmer’s right foot.

“Even some bone-on-bone stuff,” she said. “Sometimes it crunches in there.”

But Witmer, who said she will give in and have her foot placed in a cast after the season, gutted it out, missing just one meet this season.

“If you would have seen her foot after some of the meets earlier this season, you wouldn’t have believed it,” said Chip Mathias, Penn Manor’s pole vault coach.

“But you can’t pull her back. She’s very driven. In fact, she’s probably the most gifted athlete I’ve ever coached. She’s incredible.”

Mathias knows a thing or two about vaulting. The 1977 Columbia grad still holds the Crimson Tide’s school record with a vault of 14-1.

He’s tutored Witmer the last three years, and says she’s already accomplished things he couldn’t even imagine – like vaulting 12-feet with tendon and nerve damage in her foot, for instance. And improving her vaults by two-plus feet every year since her freshman season.

“That,” he said, “is simply incredible.”

“I think Jocelyn has two great things going for her,” Mathias continued. “She has a strong heart with a burning desire to excel, and she’s gifted. She’s starting to grasp everything literally right now. She’s got a great chance to jump 12-6 or even 13-feet this season.”

Using a new pole (a 13-foot, 1-inch model that’s built for a 136-pounder and that is tougher to bend than her old pole) Witmer cleared 12-feet three times in practice last Friday, the day before she hit that mark to win gold in the L-L League Meet, setting a new meet record along the way.

Witmer credits a background in gymnastics for her vaulting prowess.

“I’ve done most of the other track and field events, and this is the toughest by far,” she said. “It’s very technical. Everything has to be right on … your form has to be good. I think it’s the only event where you literally use every muscle in your body.

“It’s also a dangerous event. If you’re scared, you could get hurt. Thanks to gymnastics, I’m not scared to go upside down. There’s just something about going upside down and shooting yourself up in the air and getting over that bar … just knowing you cleared that bar is the greatest feeling. Not a lot of people can do that. I love it.”

Witmer also loves her chances going into the District 3 and PIAA meets. The No. 2 seed in Districts is Wilson senior Tory Toso, whose best vault is an 11-6. The top vault across the state this season, Witmer said, is a 12-6.

With a new pole and the excitement of vaulting against the best of the best, Witmer hopes to hit that mark - or go even higher - in the next two weeks.

“Everything is starting to click,” she said. “I’m really getting my technique down.”

Mathias preaches three things: perfecting your takeoff, having a good swing and pulling your trail leg up and over the bar, and pushing off the vault.

Witmer, he said, is well on her way to mastering all three.

“She’s using a pole that is 26 pounds over her weight,” Mathias said. “Most pole-vaulters can’t even bend a pole that’s three pounds over their weight. She’s a phenomenal kid. And she is where she is because of her ability. She’s very, very gifted.”

And very, very fortunate her damaged right foot has held up this long. If it can hold up for two more weeks, and help launch her on her way up and over the bar, a couple of gold medals could be in Jocelyn Witmer’s immediate future.