JACKSONVILLE — As gusts of roughly 20 mph sent pellets of rain blowing horizontally across Hodges Stadium, St. Petersburg pole vaulter Cayman Ellis wondered if the atonement for which he had spent a year toiling would arrive.

“All the time we were waiting, I thought they were going to call (the event),” said Ellis, who fidgeted through two weather delays at Saturday’s Class 4A state meet.

When the event was green-lighted, Ellis sat shivering beneath an umbrella until the bar was raised to 13 feet, the height he failed to clear in three tries last season. Then, cold segued into gold.