Sprinting down the red, rubber track, breathing heavily as he pumps his arms trying to propel himself forward, Alec Lederer sees no one ahead of him. As he heads into the final straightaway toward the coveted destination of the finish line, the senior realizes no one is around him. With each stride closer to the finish line, the crowd at Blue Mountain High School cheered louder and louder until he embarked on a golden opportunity.

The East Stroudsburg University-bound Lederer took 9:40.26 to travel 3200 meters around the track. That time earned him his first career district gold medal in his last District 11 track and field meet, which was held on May 15 and 16, and secured him a spot in the state track and field meet.

After the race, where he held a 50 meter lead for most of it, Lederer said he had just one thought in his mind during the race: "Don't get caught!"

Lederer listened to himself very well as he staved off any competitors and achieved a new personal record. His closest competitor was Wade White from Bangor who finished in 9:44.07.

The future ESU Warrior described what it felt like to finally make it to the state meet in his last chance.

"It is amazing," he said. "I remember running on this track my sophomore year and I had a real good race. That was where I was like, 'Wow! I could go somewhere in this sport.' Now two years later to make it is great."

Senior track star Kory DeCesaris will be joining Lederer at states. On day one of the meet DeCesaris finished eighth in javelin as he was suffering from an ailment which he described as a "season-long sore left knee." However the new school-record holder persevered and took gold in shot put with a throw of 54-8 to ensure that he would be making a return trip to states this season.

He coupled that gold with a bronze medal on day two when he finished third in discus with a throw of 145-8. However that left him a little short of making states.

But, DeCesaris sees it as a positive.

"It would have been great to make it to states in discus. I see this as sort of a positive though as I'd rather focus on one event now."

He continued to say that he is going to harp on technique in practice before states.

Although DeCesaris didn't find the podium after javelin, the Konkrete Kids were still represented as Brad Klucsarits captured fourth with a throw of 175-8. That didn't punch him a ticket to states, but the senior was thrilled with that throw personally.

"My last personal record was 159-7 and to move to 175-8 is just amazing," he said. "With the all-weather surface and my new shoes I thought that maybe that just gave me an advantage today."

Other finishes of note from the two-day meet in Schuylkill Haven include a fifth-place finish in the 100 meter hurdles for Allison Horn. She missed qualifying for states by .02 seconds. Also, Erica Filipovits finished seventh in that event. Sarina Kocher had a fifth-place finish of her own in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:01.65.

The state tournament will take place on Friday, May 24, and Saturday, May 25. It will be held at Shippensburg University.