LAKEWOOD — Gulong Craft Jr. required assistance from his 4×100 teammates to safely step from atop the podium at Jeffco Stadium. 

Craft pulled up 20 meters shy of the finish line during the 3A boys’ relay Saturday, hopped on his left leg to the finish line with a strained right hamstring and, after dropping to the ground, gimped off the track to the turf.

However, please notice, Harrison’s view came from the highest spot on the podium. Meaning, not even an injury could save the other eight teams from the Panthers’ speed. 

“I’m good,” Craft said after Harrison won the race at 41.72 seconds. “As long as we got first place that’s all that matters to me. Knowing that I got first is what was most important. I got to hobble off the first spot. Not second. Not third. The first spot.”

Harrison’s time nearly beat the field by a full second as Coal Ridge clocked in at 42.53. That served as the story all weekend for the Panthers. In the prelims, the Panthers broke the state meet record – which Harrison set in 2025 – and ran a 41.56, which was nearly two seconds faster than Wellington’s prelim time of 42.95.

The Panthers group of four also shattered their own state mark in the 4×200 on Friday and clocked in at 1:26.56.

Harrison finished with 65 points and, if not for The Classical Academy, which finished as runners-up with 67 points, the Panthers could have earned their first top-two placement in over a quarter century. Harrison previously won the 4A track and field title in 2000. This year, with six competitors, the Panthers narrowly missed out on a trophy.

“These guys have worked so hard to get us here and I didn’t want to fail them on the big stage,” Craft said. “Finishing meant more than anything and I didn’t want to stop. We’ve worked at this all season and especially coming with six sprinters, to get to (third place) is impressive.”