JACKSON — A few weeks ago, St. Aloysius’ Brayden Roesch thought his road to the MAIS Class AAA state track and field meet might not even begin because of an injury.

On Friday, however, he stood tall atop the podium holding a gold medal in his hand after clearing 12 feet in the pole vault.

“I tore my hip flexor two days before the district meet, and I didn’t even know if I was going to qualify,” Roesch said. “But I went out there and jumped from a short run and qualified. Then I just jumped to qualify at South State. It got better this week, but I didn’t expect to be able to jump like this.”

Roesch said he was still dealing with pain during his jumps, but he gritted through it and narrowly came out with the victory. He tied with Park Place Christian’s Elijiah Rummels, and won on a tiebreaker. Silliman Institute’s Zach Attuso and Bayou Academy’s John Maggio tied for third at 11-6.

Roesch said his only secret to powering through the day was adrenaline and a lot of Advil. At first he wasn’t sure if he would be able to do his normal routine and felt his chances were slim, but when the height was raised to 11 feet and more and more competitors began dropping out he finally had his chance.

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to run from a long run and jump from a big pole, but I got on my biggest pole and tied my personal record,” Roesch said.

St. Al coach Michael Fields was very impressed by Roesch’s determination.

“He sucked it up, fought adversity, and came out and proved he was a winner today,” Fields said.

Roesch is only a sophomore, and it was his first time qualifying for the state meet. With Roesch presumably with the team for another two years, it gave Fields a lot to be excited about for the future.

“It’s big for our program, because the kid worked hard and he deserved it,” Fields said. “You get out of life what you put into it, and he put a lot into it, and I hope he continues to keep that effort up and maybe one day become a 14-15 foot vaulter.”

Roesch was not the only St. Al athlete competing at the state meet. Ketrez Brown had a personal-best height of 5 feet, 8 inches in the boys’ high jump but only finished sixth.

Cati Matthews competed in the girls’ high jump and finished seventh, with a height of 4-6. Ally Doiron finished fifth in the girls’ 3,200 meter run.

Friday was the first half of the MAIS state meet, with only field events and the 3,200 meters contested at Jackson Academy.

The meet resumes Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at Jackson Prep, with the rest of the running events. St. Al will have 15 entries in Saturday’s meet as the boys’ team tries to defend its Class AAA team championship.