Wilfred DeLaRosa might have come late to track and field, but the Auburn Riverside senior is making up for lost time.

“I’ve been doing this since eighth grade,” he said.

DeLaRosa played baseball up until the eighth grade, but his middle school track coach persuaded him to try out for the track team.

Soon baseball was just a memory.

“So in eighth grade I switched over,” he said. “And it’s been going pretty good ever since.”

This season it’s been going better than pretty good for DeLaRosa, who has stretched 22 feet, 2½ inches in the long jump, the fourth-best 4A jump in the state.

Although DeLaRosa has competed in the long jump since eighth grade, it wasn’t until his freshman year that he started doing the triple jump.

“It’s going pretty good so far,” DeLaRosa said. “This year I’m trying to break the school triple jump record, 47-7. So far I’ve jumped a 44-8. But I’ve jumped a few times this year where I’ve scratched by an inch, but got a 48. I want to try and break the record so I can impress my parents. I’m the only athlete in my family.”

So far this season, his 44-5½ is the sixth-best distance in the state 4A ranks.

“I’ve been getting a lot of advice from coaches at all the invitationals,” DeLaRosa said. “At the Tacoma Invite I got a real nice compliment from one of the other coaches, who said, ‘With the form you have, if you hit your marks, we’ll see you at state.’”

Although he admits that natural talent plays into his success at jumping, he also said that many hours of working on his technique have made the difference for him this season.

“It takes a lot of training,” he said of his triple jump form. “I started my freshman year. Form matters a lot. I remember my coach helping me my sophomore year. I was jumping 40 feet, and I added two feet just by working on my form.”

DeLaRosa said he expected to add even more distance once he moves on to districts, and hopefully, the state meet.

“I usually jump harder with higher competition,” he said. “I watch the other kids’ marks and try to do better.”

DeLaRosa added that he hopes to secure a scholarship to college so he continue to compete at the next level.

“I like Western (Washington), but I’m hoping to get an offer after state,” he said.

Until then, DeLaRosa said he’s happy just being able to compete and help out the Raven track and field team.

“We all push each other,” he said. “We all help each other strive. It’s a team effort.”

AR’s Krotzer aiming for records

Last season the state meet did not go well for Auburn Riverside senior Kenny Krotzer.

On the eve of the meet, conducted at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma, Krotzer found himself battling a case of the flu. The illness cost him, relegating the Stanford-bound distance runner to a disappointing 14th-place finish in the 1,600 with a 4:23.87.

This year Krotzer already has bettered that time easily, posting a state 4A second-best time of 4:14.04.

“I just want to run faster times than I did last year,” Krotzer said. “So far it’s worked out pretty well. My workouts have been a lot faster, too. I guess it’s just been over the year of training.”

Krotzer is first in the state in the 800 with a 1:52.52 and third in the 3,200 with a 9:17.18.

“I just really want to win state,” Krotzer said. “And I know I can get a school record in the 800, which is a low 1:52, and I think I can get pretty close in the 1,600, which is 4:05. It’s just a matter of if the right race comes with the right set of circumstances.”

Although he’s running fast, Krotzer says his quickest times are yet to come.

“Every meet I’ve been doing better, but I haven’t really gone all out in a race yet,” he said. “And up to this point the competition hasn’t been as high level as it will be at state.”

Krotzer also added that he was making sure he stays healthy as well.

“I’m eating my vitamin C pills every day,” he said.

Ravens ready

for postseason

In addition to Krotzer and DeLaRosa, several other Raven athletes are surging down the stretch and getting ready for postseason track and field.

As usual, the Ravens’ distance runners are finding themselves among the best in the state.

For the boys, senior Nate Gesell – who will run at Gonzaga next season – is sixth in the 4A in the 3,200 with a 9:26.48 time. Central Kitsap’s Shane Moskowitz, the defending 4A champ, is first with a 9:08.68 time.

For the girls, freshman Cassidy Brown is eighth in the 800 with a 2:20.03 and 10th in the 1,600 with a 5:12.

Sophomore Rachel Atwood has the fifth-best 3,200 4A time with an 11:11.87.

Brown and Atwood set school records this year in the 1,600 and 3,200 respectively.

In the field events, senior Elise Jones is tied for ninth place in the 4A high jump with a 5-2.

Returning state competitor Rebecca Turnbow is ranked fifth in the pole vault with an 11-3 vault, three inches higher than her fifth-place, 11-foot vault from last year’s state meet.