PEARL — Maggie Waites went up for her first practice jump Friday at the MHSAA state track meet and easily soared over a mark several pole vaulters had been working toward for the better part of an hour.

One of them, Oxford’s Mollie Beth Ott, turned toward a nearby group of astonished onlookers and spoke.

“She’s not in our division,” Ott, the eventual Class 5A champion, said in a reassuring, relieved tone.

When it comes to vaulting, few are even in Waites’ class.

Waites, a freshman from St. Aloysius, broke her own overall state meet record in the girls’ pole vault and won her third consecutive Class 1A championship by clearing 11 feet, 3 inches. The mark was eight inches better than the record she set last year, and seemingly just a waypoint on a much longer path toward Mississippi track immortality.

“Next year, my goal is around 13 feet. I really, really wanted to get 12 today. I think I can, I think I’m physically able to. Maybe if the conditions are better, but I don’t want to go on ifs. Over the summer, I hope to get 12-something,” Waites said.

Instead of reaching the 12-foot mark, Waites stepped up a few feet for a long-awaited trip to the top of the medal podium.

“I still love getting my medals. I haven’t gotten a medal, I don’t think all year. I’ve won, but they haven’t been handing out medals. So I’m really excited to get my medal, because that’s what I love,” Waites said.

St. Al’s Mack Davidson joined Waites on the medal stand. The junior distance runner used a strong finishing kick to win a pair of state championships in the boys’ 800 and 1,600 meter runs.

“It feels like I’m on top of the world,” an elated Davidson said. “It’s not like I’m on a 2-foot podium. It’s like I’m standing on top of the world.”

Davidson won the 1,600 first, going from fourth to first on the second lap. Entering the fourth and final lap, Davidson and University Christian’s Jeremy England had pulled clear of the field. Davidson led by a few steps crossing the line to start the lap, and won by about 15 meters.

It was a similar path to victory in the 800. Davidson led a pack of runners around the first turn of lap two and was ahead by 30 yards entering the final 100 meters. Piney Woods’ Fredrick Thurman closed the distance some, but Davidson still won by three seconds.

“I’ve been trained to spend all my energy in the last 300. That’s when I kick. That’s when I go,“ Davidson said. “Most people either go at the 200 or the 100, that’s the more natural speed, but I’ve been trained to go at the 300. So it’s harder for those that are quicker than me to last that extra hundred meters.”

Waites had a similarly dominant victory. The second-place finisher in the girls’ pole vault was Chelsea McDaniel of French Camp, who cleared 7 feet, 6 inches before missing at 8 feet — a foot and a half lower and more than 30 minutes before Waites even took off her sweats.

Because of rain and to save time, the Class 1A and 5A vaulters alternated jumps. Waites finally took her turn at 9-6 and easily cleared the bar to claim the state title. She kept going, clearing 10 feet, then 10-8 to break her record from last year, and finally 11-3. She finally scratched on a couple attempts at 11-8 — still securely in the record books — but a few inches shorter than she was shooting for.

Lindsey Acree of DeSoto Central has cleared 11-6 this season, and will compete in today’s Class 6A meet. Waites was trying to put the overall record out of Acree’s reach, competing more with a jumper who wasn’t even there Friday than anyone actually in the stadium.

“I’m really, really nervous about that. I wanted my record and I knew if I could have cleared that, I had it. I guess today just wasn’t my day,” Waites said.

St. Al finished eighth in the team standings in the girls Class 1A meet, with 25 points. Myrtle won the team title with 96 points, Coldwater was second with 87, Sacred Heart was third with 60, and Hinds AHS came in fourth with 55.

Hinds AHS won the Class 1A boys’ title in dominating fashion, using sweeps in the 100 meters and 110 meter hurdles and seven first-place finishes to obliterate the field. The War Dawgs amassed 161 points, 70 more than second-place University Christian. It’s the first team title since 2006 for Hinds AHS, which has finished second each of the last five years.

“Ever since ‘06 we’ve been working to get back to this point. We kept being the bridesmaid. This feels a lot better,” Hinds coach Michael Fields said.

Individual state champions for Hinds AHS were Shaquille Stamps (100 meters), Jerodrick Draper (200, 400) and Jerry Smith (discus, 110 meter hurdles). Hinds also won the 400 meter relay with the team of Reginald Warnsley, DeAndre Selmon, Kejuan Williams and Ledarion Robinson, and the 800 meter relay with Draper, Selmon, Stamps and James Stokes.