Francis Ojawa stood several feet beyond the finish line, mouth wide open in shock.

High above the track at Jeffco Stadium the scoreboard read out “37.36” in big bold letters.

Ojawa had just torched the field to win the 300-meter Hurdles at The Pomona Invitational in a state-leading, meet record.

Add that it was a personal best — by over half-a-second.

A big bold performance.

“Today I changed everything,” he explained afterward. “Seeing 37.36 put a smile on my face because it shows I have a long way to go.”

When prodded about what changed, the Prairie View senior put it simply: “I believed in myself.

“Yesterday I didn’t necessarily believe in myself. I tried to force the belief. But today I was confident in my ability. I knew I’d worked hard for this, and I knew it would come if I stayed relaxed.”

A year ago Ojawa finished third in the 300H at the Class 5A Colorado state championships. Now he owns the fastest time across all classifications by nearly sixth-tenths-of-a-second.

Ojawa’s performance wasn’t the only jaw-dropping performance to come out of The Pomona Invitational. As per the trend in recent years, meet records were falling all over the place, as it’s clear we’re in the second half of the 2025 Colorado track and field season.

In the girls 400 Windsor’s Kiana Cumings blazed a state-leading 55.27.

Not only was her time a season-best by over two seconds, it was a personal best, and it currently leads the state by over a half-second.

Cumings also won the 200 in 24.31.

Moving up in distance — you’ll want to remember this name — Eliana Angelino dominated the girls 800. The Lakewood senior led from start to finish, clocking a state-leading 2 minutes, 12.61 seconds.

Angelino did not compete in track last year, and now she holds the No. 1 800 time in Colorado.

Tatum Berg swept the distance events, winning the 3,200 Friday night in 10:38, and coming back to kick for the win the 1,600, clocking 4:55.

Berg is currently ranked No. 2 in the 3,200, and No. 3 in the 1,600 across all classifications.

Meanwhile the boys 1,600 saw a fiery finish, with Coronado’s Xzavier Campos kicking down the field to win the event in 4:19.98.

Of additional note on Campos — he’s coming back off injury. Last fall he was sidelined in the middle of the cross country season with a fracture in his foot. The Coronado junior spent most of the winter cross-training, and didn’t start running again until late January. Needless to write, it appears that Campos is quickly re-finding his stride.

In the girls relays, Fossil Ridge was on fire.

Two wins — two meet records.

And it was with the same quartet, in the same lineup.

Ava Hurlbut, Lily Wale, Katie Feldman, and Addyson Smith came, saw, and conquered.

The team won the 4×200 in 1:40.85, and the 4×100 in 48.00.

In the field events the highlight had to be Jarius Ward.

The Overland senior and defending state champion won the discus in a state-leading 184 feet, 2 inches.

For the girls, it was Roosevelt’s Braelyn Bailey, who cleared a 5-8 in the high jump for a Colorado No. 1.

Run Around The Country

Titan Invitational: Eaglecrest relays were on fire this week. The boys 4×100 scorched a state-leading 41.00.
Cherry Creek Invitational — re-read the sentence above about Eaglecrest. Now swap out “boys” for “girls” — their girls 4×100 ran a state-leading 46.75.

Thunder-Storm Invitational: Pagosa Springs’ Abigail Nehring won the discus in a state-leading 142-10 — that’s a personal best.

Boulder County Track Championships: Niwot’s Reese Kasper continued to impress. She won the 300H in a state-leading 42.19. The performance is also a personal best for the defending state champion. She also won the 100H in a state-leading 14.22.

On the boys side of the meet, Fredrick’s Tanner Kaufman ran himself into the conversation of best-in-state. He won the 800 in a state-leading 1:53.17.

Arcadia Invitational (California): Summit’s Josh Shriver finished seventh in the Invitational mile, clocking 4:12.94, while Resurrection Christian’s Jackson Fagerlin finished third in the Seeded section, clocking 4:12.02.

The Mountain Vista duo of Benji Anderson, and Benjamin Adams finished 6-7 in the invitational 2-mile, clocking 8:46.15, and 8:46.55. The performances make Anderson and Adams the No. 5 and No. 6 fastest all-time for Colorado athletes. Cheyenne Mountain’s Brogan Collins also dipped under the coveted nine-minute mark, clocking 8:53.12.

In the invitational girls 2-mile Mountain Vista’s Keeghan Edwards led Coloradans, finishing fourth in 10:05.20. Cherry Cree’s Emily Cohen finished 11th in 10:11.66.