Auburn Riverside senior Kenny Krotzer found this past weekend’s South Puget Sound League 4A Boys Cross Country Sub-District meet a bit of a walk in the park.

Krotzer, who finished 14th at the state 4A meet last year, came into the meet at Fort Steilacoom Park as the favorite to capture the SPSL 4A title and lead the Ravens to a SPSL 4A team title. When the day was done, Krotzer had done both.

Krotzer easily outdistanced the field at the meet, running a 15-minute, 34.7-second time, and beating second-place finisher Chris Schroll of Emerald Ridge by more than 13 seconds.

“It went by really fast,” Krotzer said. “The first mile, we came by with a good time, but it didn’t feel like a mile. And pretty soon I was coming down the last hill, the last 800, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is it I guess.’ I was kind of hoping that people would go with me. I started off pretty quick hoping that but they didn’t. But I knew it was going to be more like a workout.”

Krotzer’s finish keyed the Auburn Riverside team, which finished in first-place in the team competition with 42 points. Curtis High School’s team finished second with 134 points.

Also helping the Ravens was senior Nate Gesell, who finished third with a 15:48.3 time. Junior Jeff Miles was 11th with a 16:26.9, and sophomore Korey Krotzer finished 13th with a 16:36.2. Junior Nick Lawrence was 14th with a 16.36.6, and junior Skylar Cowan finished 21st with a 16:51.4. Junior Keefe Hanson rounded out Riverside’s runners with a 28th place, 17.01.1 time.

“Coming in this week with the flu going around all the schools, I hoped we’d just get through this week and get in our work,” said coach Bill Sumner. “We ran hard through this week. We knew we had a tough team even with one of my varsity guys out (Hunter Cowan with a leg injury).

“But the top guys knew they were going to have to step it up if someone was out. And suddenly, someone like Skylar Cowan has to step up from No. 7 to No. 5, and he did it in great fashion. He knew he was our scorer and stepped up and did it. The top five guys were real strong today. It’s nice having a one-two punch with Kenny and Nate in there.”

Now the Ravens will prepare for this Saturday’s Westside Classic District meet. The top 30 individual runners and top six teams will move on to the Washington State 4A Championship meet, Nov. 7 at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.

For Krotzer, the Westside is more than a shot at qualifying for state though, it’s also a chance to square off against Central Kitsap’s Shane Moskowitz and Gig Harbor’s Conner Peloquin. Last year, Moskowitz won the Westside Classic, with Peloquin finishing third. Krotzer finished sixth last year.

“The placing there will probably be the placing, for state I think,” he said.

The Westside Classic 4A boys meet gets underway at 3 p.m. this Saturday at American Lake Golf Course in Lakewood.

ALSO: The Auburn boys cross country squad finished 12th in the SPSL team competition. Senior Ben Johnson had the Trojans best time with a 34th place 17:14.6 time. Senior Elijah Keimig finished 43rd with a 17:21.1, and sophomore Cody McCraine was 50th with a 17:26.0 finish. All three runners will compete for a shot at state at the Westside Classic. … The Auburn Riverside girls cross country team took home a third-place finish with 120 points at the SPSL 4A meet. Sophomore Rachel Atwood finished 11th with a 19:36.4 time. Teammate Cassidy Brown was 12th with a 19:40.5 time. The Ravens qualified as a team to compete at the Westside Classic. … The Auburn girls finished 16th in the team competition with 371 points. Freshman Anna deCarteret had the team’s best time with a 24th place 20:23.6 finish. The placing qualifies her for a spot at the Westside Classic. … Tahoma was the winner of the girls team competition with 44 points. Thomas Jefferson was second with 114 points. … Kent-Meridian sophomore Alexia Martin turned in a 18:45.7 time to win the girls individual competition … In the SPSL 3A/Western Cascade Conference boys competition, Auburn Mountainview snagged the third-place team finish behind first-place Peninsula and second-place Capital. Senior Nick Lipinski was 10th with a 16:52.1, and sophomore Dylan Summerlin finished 14th with a 17:03.6. The Lions had six runners finish in the top-50, with J.J. Jacey, Matt Mattox, Chris Scharer and Garrett Raphael all coming in under the wire. Sophmore Stephen Creed was 60th overall.

Westside Classic District Cross Country Championships

The Westside Classic starts at 10:15 a.m. this Saturday at American Lake Golf Course at 9600 Veteran’s Drive in Lakewood. The 3A girls race begins at 1 p.m. with the 4A girls running at 1:30 p.m. The 3A boys race starts at 2:30 p.m. and the 4A boys run at 3 p.m.