Those looking for a record at the state track and field championships would be advised to keep their eyes on the sky.

Baldwin pole vaulter Amber Kozaki cleared 12 feet, 6 inches to win the event and break the meet record at the Punahou Relays on Saturday.

Kozaki, whose personal best is 12-7, had three attempts at 12-9. She hit the bar with her feet on the way up on her first try. On her second attempt, Kozaki appeared to clear the bar, but it wobbled and fell into her lap in the landing pit. She just clipped the bar on her third attempt, ending her event as the record holder by a full foot over former teammate and current Washington State pole vaulter Kristine Felix.

Felix holds the state meet record of 12-6, set in 2010 when both Baldwin athletes broke the record but Felix won the event.

"I am hoping I can clear 13," Kozaki said. "If I can do that I can go to 13-3 or 13-6. After it gets to like 12-6, it is all technique; all I think about is my technique."

Kozaki won at the Punahou Relays as a sophomore, but was hampered by a sprained ankle last year, when Felix was the only girl to go over 12 feet. Kozaki stopped at 11 feet in the state championships last year, finishing third behind Felix and Punahou’s Sammy Marumoto. After her performance this season, the injury woes seem way in the past.

"I think she can go high 13s in high school," Baldwin coach Linden Wada said. "That’s something I have always talked to her about. Hopefully, we can break that 13 barrier, but I always thought she could be a 13-7, 13-8 jumper."

Marumoto also beat Kozaki in last week’s Honolulu Marathon Invitational. Both girls cleared 12 feet, but Marumoto did it in fewer attempts. Marumoto pushed Kozaki to 12 feet on Friday, but just missed her attempts at 12-6, leaving the drama to Kozaki and her magic number.

"I knew from the beginning that attempts would matter," Kozaki said. "So I was hoping to clear everything on the first attempt. I didn’t think about (last week’s loss), I was just telling myself that technique and attempts are all that matter today."

Kozaki decided to attend the University of Hawaii about a month ago, because she knew she wanted to stay close to home, figuring that she would be "totally homesick" if she was detached from the support system that has taken her this far.

"Without my coach and parents and supporters, this would not be possible," she said.

Kozaki wasn’t the only athlete to reach great heights on Saturday. Mililani’s Khalil Stevens rose 6 feet, 10 inches in the boys high jump to beat the rest of the field by nearly a foot and break the meet record of 6-81⁄4 set by Pac-Five’s Kris Cuaresma-Primm back in 1999.

Kozaki and Stevens were named the meet’s outstanding performers.

Although no team scores were kept, Punahou’s boys dominated with eight gold medals, including a win in the power relay, a contest that is made up of teams of runners who weigh more than 200 pounds. Kamehameha was the only other school to take multiple golds on the boys side, earning two.

Punahou’s girls earned four gold medals. No other team had more than two.

The ILH championships will be held next week at Kamehameha, with the OIA championships May 4 at Mililani. The state meet is May 10-11 at Mililani.