NEW YORK — Neal Wojdowski is at his best when he's putting his heart and soul into the task at hand; pole vaulting is the perfect example.

A solid collegiate career at the University of Pennsylvania was preceded by two WPIAL Class AA titles and two state titles while a member of the Mars High boys track and field team.

Wojdowski, who graduated from Mars in 2001, is one of five people who will be inducted into the district's Athletic Hall of Fame Friday.

Wojdowski was heavily involved in extracurricular activities in high school. Along with track and field, he lettered in football, ice hockey, soccer and basketball. He was even a member of the school's marching band.

But it was while vaulting that he became known around the WPIAL, and for that matter, the entire state.

“I joined the middle school track and field team in seventh grade,” said Wojdowski. “I was on the track one day and saw some kids trying to vault. I ended up trying it out because it was the event that looked like the most fun to me.”

It didn't take long for Wojdowski and the Planets to reap the rewards of that decision.

After setting the program's middle school record in the event, Wojdowski moved on to the high school team, though not everyone expected him to succeed right away.

“I remember some people telling me my freshman year that I shouldn't think about lettering that season,” he said. “They said there were older kids on the team and that they were better than me.”

Wojdowski went on to not only letter, but won the first of two WPIAL titles near the end of his freshman year with a jump of 13 feet.

“I don't understand why some people were trying to make it sound so impossible for me to succeed,” he added. “I fed off of that and it was gratifying to prove people wrong.”

Wojdowski's first state title came as a junior in 2000 (14-3). He then capped his high school career by jumping to WPIAL and PIAA titles as a senior with identical jumps of 14-3.

But always the competitor, Wojdowski was focused on something he was unable to do at the state championships his senior year.

“A kid from Deer Lakes (Larry Petcos) had the state record of 14-9,” said Wojdowski. “He had set it (in 1997) and I wanted to break it so bad.”

The irony is that Wojdowski had actually jumped 14-9C\v a few weeks earlier at the Penn Relays, but only jumps that occur at the PIAA Championships can be considered for the official state record.

“The fact that I couldn't put my name at the top in the record books, that really bothered me,” said Wojdowski.

Wojdowski took his natural talent and competitive spirit to the collegiate level, jumping for Penn's men's track and field team before graduating in 2005.

Included was a trip to the NCAA Championships his junior year, held in Austin, Texas.

“I jumped 16-11 and placed fourth at the East Regional that year, which allowed me to get to NCAAs,” Wojdowski said. “That was really a great experience.”

Pole vaulting had become such a big part of his life that Wojdowski still jumps to this day.

“I vault at certain meets, ones held at Princeton, Rutgers and Penn,” he said. “They know who I am and I think they'd feel too bad to tell me, ‘No.'

“I still lift weights and run a lot,” he added. “I don't jump for money. I just need competition, I need exercise. It breaks the monotony.”

Wojdowski has lived in New York for the last six years, working as a computer forensics consultant. But he has recently decided to give another one of his interests more attention.

“I'm looking to move back to Pittsburgh and give my music a shot,” he said. “I started playing guitar in seventh grade and I've been writing music since about ninth grade.

“I'm currently co-producing an EP, with an album coming down the road.”

Note: The 2011 inductees will be honored at a dinner at Mars Middle School prior to Friday's home varsity football game against Hampton. A $20 ticket buys admission to the dinner and the football game. For details, call 724-625-9380.