LAKEWOOD — We leaned against a chain-link fence Saturday, admiring his triple-jump score. It hung on a flip card, like a bat signal announcing his arrival on Colorado’s track and field scene: 50 feet, 7 1/4 inches.

Jequan Hogan, everyone. Write it down, take a picture. This won’t be the last you hear of him, not after he won the Class 5A triple jump title with a leap that rattled the aluminum bleachers and set a school record in the process.

“Fifty feet,” said Hogan, a junior at Fountain-Fort Carson. “It does look good up there.”

Then we talked about his long-term goals. I tossed out “Olympics,” and Jequan didn’t blink.

“That’s the dream,” he said.

It’s a dream that Hogan should chase with every fiber of his God-given ability. He’s 17 and born in the 2000s, if you want to feel old. He’s 6-foot-3, still growing, and his stirring performance on the first day of the state championships had people whispering through Jeffco Stadium, “Who is that guy?”

Every once in a while an athlete rolls through these hills and he or she is just different. Doesn’t happen often, doesn’t happen every school year. But it happens, and they stand out in a crowd, whether it’s a golfer shooting 65 on the final day, a point guard dunking on centers, a softball pitcher who no-hits her team to a state title. That’s Hogan, even if few people know about him yet. His college recruiting list is short enough that when I asked who’s chasing him, Hogan couldn’t remember any of the programs.

“That’s going to change after today,” said Harry Knight, his jumping coach at Fountain-Fort Carson.

After two days of snow and rain shortened the state meet to a two-day event and smeared a “Go Kaitlyn! Take state!” painted across the back window of a Honda Odyssey, Hogan was the talk of the meet. And it wasn’t so much that he won his first state title with that jarring number — 50-7 1/4, just shy of the state record (51-0 1/4) — but how he went about it: when Hogan failed, he came back stronger. See, Jequan fouled on his first two attempts on the triple jump, once on a line violation and once when he balanced his landing by sticking his left hand outside the sand pit. But adversity is when the great ones — or those, like Hogan, who have a chance to be great — remind us who they are. Just before his third jump, after he twice failed and the crowd had turned against him, Hogan found Knight and his dad, Markevous Hogan, for a mid-finals pep talk. What did his coach say?

“This is a test,” Knight said. “And you’re going to pass it.”

And his dad?

“Just let it fly,” Markevous said.

Jequan let it fly, all right: 49-7 3/4 — a school record that stood for all of 13 minutes, until his next jump smashed that one. He knew it was a big jump, too, pumping his fist, the first sign of emotion Hogan had shown all day. Then came his fourth and final jump, and it looked like Jequan had remembered all those early mornings of training with his dad and Knight. He nailed the jump, the crowd lost its collective mind, and, true story, Hogan would’ve had the state record if not for his backside falling backward when he hit the sand. I used my Bic pen as a ruler, and the distance from the back of his foot (where his distance would have been marked) and where his butt landed (where it was marked) was a solid six inches. He’s right there, inching toward a state record that’s stood since Harrison’s Victor White in 1973.

“Hopefully next year I can come back with a 51 or a 52,” Hogan said.

Don’t put it past him.

A few things must be in place for a great athlete to become great. First is the ability, and Hogan, who also wrestled for Fountain-Fort Carson, has potential for days. Second is the support system, and his rooting section of Markevous, Eleanor (his mom) and younger siblings Kiara and Jayden were waiting track-side for hugs and congratulations. Third is a passion for the process, a desire to endure the stuff that’s not so fun so you can make the fun stuff fun.

“The reason I like triple jump the most is because you can get better in every phase,” said Hogan, whose 4.2 GPA this year also stood out. “You can break it down: here’s how I can get better here, or get better there. I think it’s the most technical of the jumping events. You have to study it. I like that.”

Sunday, Hogan competes in the finals of the long jump, high jump and 110-meter hurdles. And down the road?

Well, Jequan Hogan didn’t blink when I tossed out “Olympics.”

Twitter: @bypaulklee