Auburn Riverside senior Korey Krotzer had little trouble beating the field at the Westside Classic District Cross Country meet at American Lake Golf Course in Lakewood last Saturday, grabbing first with a 15-minute, 30.3-second effort in the boys 4A race.
Krotzer, who won the district title last season and was fourth at the state meet, beat Wolfgang Beck of Gig Harbor by 28 seconds to grab the title.
“They went out pretty hard,” Krotzer said. “At the mile I kind of just broke away and started dropping everybody. From there it was just about how many seconds I could beat everybody by.”
The Ravens placed ninth in the team competition, just missing the cut for the state meet.
“We missed qualifying as a team by one point,” Krotzer said. “That’s kind of a bummer, it’s the first time in ten years (for Auburn Riverside).”
Although Krotzer will be joined at the state meet by teammate Trevor Love, who notched a 30th place 16.94.4 finish, he said it was disappointing to not have all his teammates traveling to Pasco with him.
“It’s actually really weird (not having them there), but it happens,” he said.
Individually, the goal for Krotzer is nothing short of a 4A title at the state meet which unfolds at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
“The goal is a state title, that’s really what it’s all about right now, maybe run a good time, but it’s all about placement now,” he said.
After the prep season, Krotzer said he’ll begin to prepare for the a trio of postseason races, including: the Nike Border Clash, which pits the top 40 high school cross country runners in Oregon and Washington against each other on Nov. 22 in Beaverton, Oregon; the Nike Cross Northwest regional ace Nov. 12 at Eagle Island Cross Country Course in Boise, Idaho; and the Nike Cross Nationals, Dec. 3 at Portland Meadows in Oregon.
After the season, Krotzer said he would begin to narrow down which college he would attend next year with Syracuse, Northern Arizona, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Columbia, the Oregon and Berkeley all in the running.
Meanwhile, the Auburn Mountainview boys qualified for the 3A state meet by earning the sixth and final spot out of the Westside Classic..
The team was led by junior Chris Scharer, who posted a 16:19.0, fifth-place finish.
“Chris ran really well,” Lions coach Tyler Nugent said. “I see him gaining confidence every week as a front-pack runner and hope he carries that mentality on to state.”
Junior Aarun Rumbaugh was 22nd with a 17:06.6 and junior Will Faria was 35th overall with a 17:31.5.
“Will Faria also stepped up big again,” Nugent said. “He started toward the back of the pack, but probably passed 40 or 50 runners over the course of the race. He finished third on our team and really saved us in our bid for state.”
Seniors Ethan Rumbaugh and Dylan Summerlin were 39th and 40th, with a 17:38.3 and 17:38.7, respectively. Freshman Jonah Zucati and Kyle Howlett rounded out the team’s finish, coming in 86th and 88th, respectively.
Although Nugent said the team was “pretty disappointed” with their sixth-place finish as a team, he added the squad was “looking forward to putting that behind us with some solid running on Saturday in Pasco.”
The boys 3A race begins at 2 p.m. Saturday.
ALSO: In the girls 4A district competition Raven senior Rachel Atwood finished third overall with a 18:53.5 time, punching a ticket to her third Washington State Girls 4A meet. Atwood finished 10th at last year’s state meet with her personal best time of 18:33.5.
Also qualifying for the 4A girls meet was Auburn junior Ann deCarteret, ,who finished 26th overall with a 20:09.0. The state appearance is the second for deCarteret, who ran her personal best of 19:15.4 as a sophomore at the 2010 meet.
The 4A girls race begins at 1 p.m. Saturday at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
