Overland senior throwing star Jarrius Ward donned a Stitch onesie from the Disney movie “Lilo & Stitch” before and after dominating his way to a second straight Class 5A boys discus title.
Oh, and don’t forget about the Patrick Star socks from Spongebob, either, as Ward won the title by nearly 20 feet with a throw of 182 feet and a half-inch.
“I was going to wear a regular onesie, but that was just too plain,” Ward said. “I got Stitch just for this meet. Stitch is a good person who comes from a different planet. He’s like me. Track isn’t really my main sport, football is, so I came in and started to do something new that I love. It’s about loving something that’s new, and being really good at it.”
Ward is headed to be a two-sport athlete at CSU Pueblo, where he will play running back in addition to throwing the discus and the hammer. He only started throwing as a freshman in high school. Ward’s personal record in discus is 203 feet and four inches, and he also holds the state’s top mark in a meet this year with a throw of 191 feet.
So he was critical of himself Saturday, despite winning another title that came off his first throw of the afternoon. On one of his three fouls, Ward nearly heaved the discus into the Jeffco Stadium parking lot, but it hit a tree and saved the cars in its path.
“Other people might give me a B or B+, but I know I could’ve definitely done better,” Ward said. “In practices, I’ve been throwing well over 200 feet. I’m sad I couldn’t perform the way I know I’m capable of, so I’d give myself a D-. But I’m glad I didn’t foul out like a lot of guys did.”
Chaparral High School’s Wilkins Persichina, left, celebrates after winning the 5A 100-meter dash at the Track and Field State Championships at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood, Colorado, on Saturday, May 17, 2025. Jayden Fox, right, finished 6th. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)Future CSU Ram burns for 5A sprints double. Wilkins Persichina’s dream of playing Division I football ended quickly and unceremoniously with a broken ankle during an intrasquad scrimmage a week before last season began.
He needed surgery. And he carried just one lower-level offer in football. So he scrapped that plan and tossed his eggs into one mighty spring basket, after just completing his first track-and-field season as a junior. And Persichina’s spent his senior year trying to prove himself worthy of a Thanksgiving call from CSU, which offered him a track scholarship despite limited reps.
The pivot paid off, as Persichina blazed to win the 5A boys 100 meter dash in 10.53 seconds Saturday and followed it up with a state-leading time of 21.02 to take the 200 meters a couple of hours later.
Asked what he was looking to prove, Persichina said, “That I’m the fastest kid out here. Fastest kid in Colorado.”
ThunderRidge’s Ben Lee (4) rounds turn three on his way to victory in the 5A 1600-meter event at the Track and Field State Championships at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood, Colorado, on Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)Round three for ‘The Bens’ has surprising winner. Ben Lee is the back-to-back state champ in the 5A boys 800, but the best 1,600 he’s ever run made him a two-time winner this weekend. The ThunderRidge junior stormed past Benjamin Anderson and Benjamin Adams of Mountain Vista on the final lap.
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Anderson, a senior headed to Notre Dame next year, led for most of the race. Adams, the favorite in the 1,600 coming in, got stuck in traffic at one point but closed strong to place second. This is the final race for the trio of elite distance runners. Anderson also set a personal best, but still placed third.
“It feels really good,” Lee said of winning the final showdown, at least at the high school level. “It’s a fun group of guys to race against. Every time we race, I love it.”
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