Cullman's Kelsey Wren stands at the top of the podium after securing gold in the Class 6A girls high jump at Saturday's state indoor track and field meet.

BIRMINGHAM — Matt Cahoon already had the gold — but it didn’t stop him from having bigger heights in mind.

With the top spot in the high jump already wrapped up, the Holly Pond sophomore swiftly set his sights on the record. And when Cahoon secured that, he still kept going, adding inch after inch and until he set a new Class 1A-3A state indoor track and field standard at 6’7”.

The multi-sport stud shattered the previous high by 3 inches. It had been held by Springville’s James Sanders since 1981.

“Oh my goodness, I’m telling you, it was just the most awesome thing,” volunteer Holly Pond coach Scott Barksdale said. “When we got up this morning, me and Matt were both talking about, ‘Well, let’s just have a good showing, get a medal, get on the podium and put us on the map.’ He just showed out. It was incredible.”

The record-breaking feat — which came on center stage in front of a clap-happy crowd that was 100 percent behind him — occurred a week to the day after Cahoon spent the morning at the final indoor meet of the regular season and evening at Wallace State winning the county basketball tournament championship with the Broncos’ varsity boys.

When he’s not in the gym, Cahoon, as well as Holly Pond’s six other boys, practice their indoor events at the high school’s outdoor track. At this time of year, that makes for a rather chilly experience.

“They put in the hard work, and it just makes it worth it when they get down here,” Barksdale said. “The excitement on their faces is just something you can’t really put into words.”

Cahoon wasn’t the only kid from The Times’ coverage area to compete with an additional spring in their step at the Birmingham CrossPlex on Saturday.

Cullman’s Kelsey Wren used her extra bounce to snag her own gold in the high jump. The senior capped off a monster season with a clearance of 5’4” in the 6A girls division, 2 inches higher than the next-best pair from Pelham.

The triumph was Wren’s third of the season. Her other two were roped in at the same venue against big-time competition.

“Today, she was so clutch,” Cullman coach Trent Dean said. “She came through perfect through 5’4”. To put that kind of performance together, we were just beyond proud. That was awesome.”

Wren entered the weekend with two goals in mind — winning state and wanting to eclipse the school record. Dean said she’s only 2 1/4 inches off the latter and that he expects her to set the new high during the upcoming outdoor season.

Wren’s first-place result played a big part in the Lady Bearcats securing fifth as a team. The Black and Gold cinched the same position on the boys side, capping off a stellar week the virtual meets Dean viewed beforehand never saw coming. Neither squad was predicted to finish any higher than seventh or ninth.

“You can look at it on paper all day and say, ‘We can do this,’ but until the kids go out there and perform, you just don’t know,” Dean said. “So it’s pretty special when they put it all together.”

Fellow Bearcat Garrison Hill kicked off the morning field session with a silver-medal showing. He wriggled over the bar at 13’6” to become Cullman’s second sophomore pole vaulter to podium in as many days.

Ann Carol Braswell pulled off the feat on Friday.

Joey Franklin, Ben Ratliff, Walker Caretti and Kyle Norris checked off a squad goal for the Bearcats with a third-place run in the 4×800-meter relay. The fearsome foursome squeezed together on the stand after finishing in 8:34.

Austin Burwell put Cold Springs on the podium with third in the 1A-3A boys 60-meter hurdles. The junior crossed the line in 9:14.

Cullman’s Savanna Canter reset her own school record in the 60-meter hurdles for the second day in a row. The junior, who finished fourth, improved her time by a tenth of a second on Friday (9.81) and another 16-tenths Saturday (9.65).

Holly Pond and Cold Springs were eighth and ninth, respectively, out of 18 boys teams to score at least one point.

See a breakdown by school of other results from local student-athletes:

Cullman (6A)

% Michael Bentley, fifth in pole vault and ninth in triple jump

% Norris, fifth in 1,600-meter run

% Kristina Muller, seventh in girls shot put

% Girls, eighth in 4×800-meter relay (runners not specified)

% Girls, 10th in 4×400-meter relay (runners not specified)

% Olivia Kontogeorge, 11th in girls shot put

Cold Springs (1A-3A)

% Jared Stanley, fifth in 1,600-meter run

% Boys, sixth in 4×800-meter relay (runners not specified)

% Dakota Lott, seventh in girls 60-meter hurdles

% Kramer Crider, eighth in 1,600-meter run

% Ashleigh White, 17th in girls 1,600-meter run

Holly Pond (1A-3A)

% Tristan Priest, fourth in shot put

% Boys, fourth in 4×400-meter relay (runners not specified)

% Colton Teeling, seventh in 400-meter dash

% Todd Schwab, ninth in 400-meter dash

% Romey Suryono, 15th in long jump

% Jacob Drane, 18th in 1,600-meter run

St. Bernard (1A-3A)

% Marco Tona, seventh in 1,600-meter run

% Leahrose Mami, 11th in girls 1,600-meter run

% Steven Mami, 12th in 1,600-meter run

% Jaden Edge, eighth in girls high jump and 13th in 1,600-meter run

Addison (1A-3A)

% Kolby Kirk, seventh in long jump

Fairview (4A-5A)

% Reece Walker, 25th in 1,600-meter run