Jenny Soceka grew up a mere seven miles from the campus of the University of Wisconsin. Naturally, she wanted to be a part of all the glitz and glory that come along with being a Badger.

Soceka, a sophomore pole vaulter who graduated from Madison Memorial High School in 2005, came in with about as many prep accolades as one can get. A four-time state champion, including back-to-back Division I pole vault medals, Soceka wanted to keep her career going at the school that she had been admiring ever since she was able to say the words "Bucky Badger."

"I knew that I wanted to go to school here," Soceka said. "But I didn't know if they wanted me."

Indeed, Soceka was a bit nervous — and for good reason. Not only had she just won a state title in the pole vault, but had also just won the 2004 USATF Junior National and AAU National pole vault championships. College coaches can start calling track prospects as of July 1 before the start of their senior year of high school. Soceka recalls getting numerous calls those first few days, but none from Wisconsin.

"I didn't know what to think," Soceka recalls. "I got calls right away from some big schools. I kept thinking to myself, 'When will the Badgers call?'"

Luckily for both the Badgers and Soceka, she did get a call in August. Wisconsin had just hired new women's track and field coach Jim Stintzi. He brought Will Waubonsee, a colleague from Michigan State. Waubonsee's first job was to give Soceka a call.

"We knew that she wanted to be a Badger," Waubonsee said. "When I was hired as an assistant here, a lot of my coaching buddies had mentioned her name and that she really wanted to come to school here. She was one of the top returning high schoolers in the nation. When you've got that type of talent in your hometown, you're pretty lucky when they stay."

Soceka still looked around at other schools, including Arizona, Minnesota and Purdue, but all along, she knew that Wisconsin was home.

"I liked some of the other schools," Soceka says. "I just didn't want to move all the way to Arizona."

Soceka signed her letter of intent in November of her senior year. That spring, she won three state titles, claiming the 100-meter hurdles, repeating in the pole vault and as a part of the 800-meter relay.

Now finished with her illustrious high-school career, Soceka was ready to test the waters at the collegiate level. However, her freshman year was not everything she had hoped for.

"I didn't do [nearly] as well as I had hoped last year," Soceka said. "Not once did I clear 13 feet, which is something I did in high school."

Although she did qualify for the NCAA regional last year, Soceka's highest mark was only 12 feet, 6 inches. She had hit 13 on a few occasions in high school, so she and her coaches felt that she needed to step up her training.

"When I came in coaches wanted me to compete in the heptathlon," Soceka said. "But I begged them to let me just pole vault last year. But after what I felt was a little bit of a disappointing year, I agreed that if I trained more and harder that it would help my pole vaulting."

So Soceka began training for the heptathlon, which includes seven events. Soceka was now training to a runner, a thrower, a jumper as well as a pole vaulter. All this extra help, she says with a smile, is paying off.

"I didn't want to do the heptathlon, and now it's the reason my pole vaulting is getting better," Soceka said.

"Her training for the multi-events has helped her out in a lot of areas," Waubonsee said. "Having her train for several events has challenged her to not only step it up physically, but mentally as well. That type of training is what's going to help her finish as high as she can and finish the best way possible to help out this team."

With two meets left until the Big Ten Championships, Soceka knows that these next two meets will show her what she needs to do in order to place as high as she knows she can.

"I'm really excited for this weekend and for next weekend," Soceka said. "Next weekend being at home is going to be great. But both meets will show me what I need to do. The top two in the Big Ten are clearing 13-8 right now, and I know I can hit that. I just have to be confident."

Confidence is something Soceka had been lacking lately. Now in the home stretch, she feels like she is the most confident one out there.

"When I'm sprinting down that runway toward the box I've got all the confidence in the world," Soceka said. "I wasn't very confident in my vault before. But now, that confidence is helping me get down the runway better. The quicker I get down there and the more confident I am getting my pole in the box, … it's going to pay off for me."