Kruty the newest Ashland star to earn Roosevelt Robinson scholarship

ASHLAND — When the time comes for Dakota Kruty to buy a house, odds are he won’t need to have saved up much money.

The Ashland High School senior might just consider putting a roof over a sandbox.

In many ways, the sand is where he’s living his best life.

“When I first started learning long jump my seventh-grade year, I actually made myself a pit in the sand (during a beach vacation) and I was practicing on that,” Kruty said. “Looking back to those videos, I think I looked like such a goof doing that stuff, but I was really determined to be good at it.”

The sand that rests in the long jump pit at Ashland’s Community Stadium has become a home away from home for the senior, who — through years of meticulously honing his craft as a jumper — has turned himself into one of the best in AHS history.

It’s just one of the reasons Kruty recently was named the 22^nd recipient of the Roosevelt Robinson Memorial Sports Scholarship.

The honor was established in 2004 by Ashland’s Class of 1966 and is awarded annually to one graduating Arrow athlete. It is named after the legendary Ashland running back who — now 60 years later — still holds four football records at the school.

Also a standout football player for the Arrows as a wide receiver and punter, Kruty will finish his high school career with seven varsity letters to his name and a track and field scholarship to Ashland University in his back pocket.

“That board (listing Robinson scholarship winners in the AHS weight room), I’ve walked past that almost every day since like my eighth-grade year,” said Kruty, also an academic All-Ohioan. “I always look at the names, so it’s a cool feeling knowing I’ll be up there with all those greats.”

The 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior hasn’t been shy about his collegiate intentions. Being a jumper for a respected track and field program has been locked on his radar for years now, with the beginnings of that goal dating back to when he set the Ashland Middle School long jump record as a state placer (19 feet, 8.5 inches).

Last year, after he qualified to the outdoor state championships in the long jump, Kruty noted how he wanted to be known during the fall football season as a track athlete who plays football — not the other way around.

He finished his career as a receiver on the gridiron with 58 catches for 874 yards and nine touchdowns, staking his claim as one of the team’s most critical pieces during two of the most memorable seasons in Arrow football history.

Ashland was a combined 22-3 in Kruty’s junior and senior years. He was a multi-time All-Ohio Cardinal Conference performer and a team captain last fall.

“His overall speed helped us make people have to cover deep, because if they didn’t, (quarterback Nathan Bernhard) had the arm to go over the top and hit him,” Arrows football head coach Scott Valentine said. “He helped us stretch the field offensively and opened up some of the other underneath stuff.

“He made a lot of big plays in big games for us.”

Valentine, who has been Ashland’s head coach for 20 seasons now, said Kruty’s straight-line speed on the field is probably in the top five he’s seen among Arrow footballers.

Kruty said his first varsity touchdown as a junior was one of the best feelings of his life.

“Just breaking off a screen and rushing to the end zone — knowing during that play that I wasn’t gonna get touched — that was a great feeling,” he said.

“There’s nothing like scoring a touchdown on a Friday night in front of all the fans.”

The final catch of Kruty’s career went for a 76-yard, momentum-swinging score against Columbus DeSales in the second round of the playoffs.

But there’s no doubt the most lasting impression he’ll leave behind while wearing the orange and black will be as a jumper.

Kruty has spent countless hours analyzing video of his form in the event. His dedication to the craft is something Ashland boys track coach Ryan Stackhouse said is unforgettable.

Also one of Kruty’s coaches in football as a defensive coordinator, Stackhouse was blunt when asked where the senior stands in terms of commitment to excellence.

“He’s at the top,” Stackhouse said. “It’s always, ‘What can I do to get better?’ He’ll text me on Saturdays and Sundays, ‘Hey, I’m watching my videos back again.’

“He’s definitely the most dedicated that I’ve been around.”

It’s the reason Kruty entered this spring season as a two-time defending Ohio Cardinal Conference champ in the long jump.

He was named last year’s OCC Combined Athlete of the Year, when he also was part of the league-winning 4×100-meter relay for a second straight spring. That quartet set an Ashland and OCC record in 42.28.

Kruty has put up state-qualifying leaps in the long jump and triple jump a combined five times during his indoor track seasons.

After taking sixth in the triple jump and 10^th in the long jump at indoor state last year, a hamstring injury kept him from trying to improve on those efforts a few months ago.

Now settling back into his groove on the outdoor runway, he said he feels poised to make another run at the state championships.

When Kruty made state last year, he was the first Arrow boy to qualify in the long jump since Tom Marquette placed fifth in 1978.

Kruty’s 22-5.25 PR at regionals last year got him within about three inches of the AHS record set by Tom Fowler nearly 50 years ago (22-8.5 in 1978).

When he filled out his application for the Robinson scholarship, he wrote that he was the “future school record holder and state champion in the long jump.”

“I’ve been a big believer in speaking things into existence; that’s something my mom’s preached to me,” said Kruty, the son of Ashland graduates Dustin and Angie Kruty. “I don’t ever want it to come off as cocky or arrogant, but it’s something that I’ve already achieved in my mind.

“Those are two of my goals I’ve had written down for years now and they’re two of the goals that I haven’t crossed out yet.”

Goal-setting has always helped drive Kruty in his athletic endeavors. As a sprinter on the track, his PRs of 11.08 in the 100 and 22.47 in the 200 have him closing in on Ashland’s Top 5 performers list in both events.

If he can whittle those digits down below 11 seconds and 22.3 seconds, respectively, his name will be there.

“Speed is 60 percent of the long jump, so if you’re not coming down the board with a lot of speed you’re not going to get farther,” said Kruty, who said some friends call him “Flash” because of his quickness. “I think a big motivator to get farther in the long jump is my speed, so I’m working hard to get faster than I ever was before.”

A longtime soccer player prior to high school, Kruty turned into a three-year punter for Valentine on the football team. His attention to detail in that aspect helped establish him as an all-district punter, as Kruty impressively placed 32 of his 91 career punts inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.

Valentine and Stackhouse both said Kruty also used his senior year to become one of the best leaders among all Ashland athletes.

“He’s been willing to lead the entire track crew and not just himself,” Stackhouse said. “Leading the long jump, leading the sprints, leading the wide receivers in football — he’s got a great leadership quality.”

Kruty has helped out as a track and field coach at the YMCA in the summer and has been a private trainer for younger kids.

Once his high school exploits wrap up this spring, he’ll be headed to Ashland University, where he’ll become the first college athlete in what he said is an athletically gifted family.

Kruty plans to major in biology and might explore dentistry. And landing a scholarship at AU — a place he’s long admired for its Division I-level coaching staff and exploits — has him aimed at a huge future.

“I have a vision board in my room and I had that written down since I was in the seventh grade, that I was trying get an offer from AU,” he said. “It’s always been a dream of mine to go to AU and be an athlete, be an Eagle.”