Jordan Wenger’s celebrated high school jumping career always contained a tinge of “what if?”

Mainly, what if his injury-prone body fully cooperated in a way to fully unlock his potential.

There’s no need to wonder any more.

Wenger will compete Friday in the high jump at the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Now a sophomore at Oral Roberts, the graduate of The Classical Academy is ranked seventh in the event. His season-best jump of 7 feet, 3 inches places him 4 inches short of favorite Kimani Jack of Georgia and within 2½ inches of the current second-place mark.

At TCA, Wenger enjoyed a celebrated career that included state titles in the high jump, long jump and triple jump as well as a 22.0 scoring average in basketball as a senior.

The majority of the time Wenger was accomplishing these feats despite struggles with injuries.

It began with a partial hip flexor tear suffered while triple jumping as a freshman. He pushed through until state, when it became debilitating. The issue largely subsided during his sophomore year, but then he rolled his ankle at state while warming up for the high jump. His junior year was largely injury free, but the hip issue roared back during his senior year in basketball.

“I don’t think I regret anything,” Wenger said of the heavy athletic workload at the prep level that took a toll on his body but also left him with a strong foundation across multiple disciplines.

At the college level, Wenger made the difficult decision to drop triple jump, which had been his primary event for a time. His Oral Roberts coaches helped him understand he wasn’t going to excel at one particular jump if he was doing all of them. Plus, the extra jumps increased the risk of injury.

Wenger also embraced a new weight room regimen and restructured his high jump approach in a way that doesn’t tax his lower body quite as severely.

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that he has remained fully healthy in college and his numbers have exploded. His high jump personal record has climbed 6 inches and he is a contender at the national level.

“At the end of last year it was kind of a weird feeling,” Wenger said. “My body was completely fine and I was able to continue to do what I was doing at a high level. It makes you look forward to every day and every meet a little more knowing you’re coming into it at 100 percent.”

Away from the track, Wenger was married during the summer following his freshman year. He loves having his wife, Gracie, able to attend meets to give him family support while his parents and siblings from Colorado Springs can’t be there.

He is studying entrepreneurship and is already running online businesses dealing with car accessories and creative business strategies.

“I’m just kind of keeping my doors open, seeing which other avenues I want to go down,” said Wenger, who intends to return to Colorado following college.

Wenger’s success at the college level has only reinforced his long-held goals of competing on the professional circuit and reaching the Olympics.

He goes to the NCAA championships eyeing victory, but also without the stress that accompanied the recent regional competition.

“I was really nervous for regionals,” Wenger said. “That’s the meet where you have to show up on the day of or your P.R. from the season doesn’t really matter. I’m a little looser with this meet and feeling more confident. I’m looking for top five. I kind of want to see if I can sneak into that top spot.

“Really, I’m just grateful to be there. This is my first time there, so I don’t really want to put a lot of pressure on myself to win. I just want to make sure I can enjoy and learn.”