Chrissy Finkel bounced off the mat and jumped into the air, throwing her right fist toward the ceiling.

The Montville junior smashed the meet record in the pole vault by clearing 12-6, tied for No. 2 in state indoor history, at the NJSIAA/Star-Ledger Group 2 Championships yesterday at the Bennett Complex in Toms River.

Finkel, who cleared 12-6 on her first try, broke the one-day-old, all-groups record of 12-1 set by Samantha Brady of Jackson in Group 4 and capped the greatest girls' pole vault competition in the four-year history of the event in New Jersey.

Jen Holly of Barnegat, the Meet of Champions winner in the pole vault last spring, finished second (12-0) and Nicole Pompei of Hanover Park third (12-0). It marked the first time that three girls from New Jersey went over 12-0 in the same meet.

"This is just unbelievable," Finkel, whose previous best was 12-4 1/2, at the Penn Relays last April, said. "I've never been so excited. I've been waiting for this for a long time. I figured it would come eventually, and it finally happened."

Finkel trails just the state record of 13-5 set in 2004 by Danielle O'Reilly of Shawnee in Medford on the state's all-time list and has moved up to No. 5 on the national list for this season.

"I finally made 12-0 for the first time this season to win at the sectionals and started feeling good about the way I was vaulting," Finkel, who will defend her M of C indoor title on Saturday, said. "But I still didn't expect to go 12-6 today. I know I'll have to jump like this to win next week because everyone is vaulting so well right now."

Finkel's magical moment almost never happened. She had to make her final attempt at 11-6 just to stay alive.

"I was like, uh oh, but knew I could do it because I felt comfortable up there and just had to keep my focus," Finkel, who, along with the rest of the competitors, had just 20 minutes to warm up, said. "It just took me a little time to get warmed up, but then I started feeling comfortable when we got to 12-0."