Antoni Smith raised his arms above his head to start the clap.
The nearly-packed west stands at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood, Colo. responded by joining him.
The Cheyenne Mountain junior eyed the high jump bar that stood at six-feet, nine-inches, while the gap between the unified clap became shorter and shorter.
He leaned back, as if revving up his engine. Once. Then twice.
And then forward.
Smith had departed with his previous personal best of 6-4 several jumps ago. Additionally he had wrapped up his victory in the high jump by clearing 6-5. Now he was off, jumping himself into new territory. The only question was how high he'd go on this day.
He picked up speed along with the clap, as now the gap was barely audible. There was no silence anymore, everything was in sync.
His steps. The clap.
And then - liftoff.
Smith launched off his left leg and soared upwards, higher than he'd ever gone before. He threw his arms back and curved backwards over the bar, mouth open with his tongue slightly out. And at last - he kicked his toes upwards into the sky and back around, flipping him over on the mat.
Above, the bar remained. Unscathed.
6-9.
The crowd erupted in cheers, prompting anyone not paying attention to give a glance. Something big had just happened on the north end of Jeffco Stadium.
Smith launched himself off the mat, and thrusted his fist into the air in excitement.
His 6-9 was a personal best by five-inches. It was a CO No. 2, a 4A No. 1, and a meet record.
That would be the theme of the 2022 Pomona Invitational.
State Meet-Vibes resonated across the stadium Friday and Saturday as records were falling left and right.
And when the dust had settled, a staggering nine meet records were broken, and in many cases there were several athletes in any given event under the previous record.
Oprah might not have been present at the meet, but it seemed like everyone was being gifted with something of a meet record underneath their seat.
Add that there six state-leading marks were tallied.
And just a note, nearly everything you're about to read (on the track) can be viewed with your very own eyes, here: Pomona Invitational Full Replay.
RESULTS | PHOTOS | VIDEOS
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