Alberto Delgado doesn’t mean to be disrespectful, but the Clear Creek High School junior uses track and field as a means to prepare for the fall football season. That’s just the way he rolls.

But make no bones about it, the 17-year-old, who has been running track and field since he was in the seventh grade, takes it seriously. That’s evident in his success this season.
“I just want to get better in each event, see if I can do better next year,” Delgado said.
But first things first. There’s still the end of this season, which continues May 11 and 13 at the 3A Frontier League championships at Holy Family High School in Broomfield, in conjunction with the Metro League. It’s Delgado’s and the Golddiggers’ final shot at qualifying for next week’s 3A state track and field championships at Lakewood’s Jefferson County Stadium.
Delgado, a three-sport standout who admits that he uses track as a means to get faster for Clear Creek’s varsity football season, has never qualified for state and doesn’t know if he will this year, either. That’s because, unlike in years past, the Colorado High School Activities Association switched qualifying in the lower classifications from being the top three at regionals to a prequalification system for the top 18 participants in each event.
Therefore, even if Delgado places in the top three this week at Holy Family he’s not guaranteed a spot at state. A leader by example, Delgado, who runs in the 100 meter and 200, may have his best shot in the long jump. That’s the event that Clear Creek head coach Jeff Miller, by far, considers Delgado’s best.
“He really kind of leads by example. It’s not that he’s a quiet guy, but it’s not like it’s all about him by any stretch of the imagination,” Miller said. “He’s recently seeing some success in the long jump that he hasn’t been seeing early in the season. He’s worked hard in the weight room to get better.”
Delgado recently jumped 19 feet, 8.5 inches at Platte Canyon. But, according to Miller, it will take probably a jump of 20-5 to qualify for state. Whereas cutting nearly a full second off his best times in the 100 (11.96 seconds) and 200 (24.35) is possible but not probable, Delgado needs just one jump at Holy Family to make his state dreams a reality.
“Is he capable (of jumping 20-5)? Absolutely,” Miller said. “Will it happen? I don’t know. But he’s got the speed and explosiveness to do that. … On any given day it can all come together on one jump. Adding a foot in the long jump can happen on one occasion.”
For Delgado, hopefully that occasion is here and now.