It's a destination they strive for as soon as they step onto the track to start the season, and for a few Zephyrs that journey has turned into a reality.

The place is Shippensburg University, site of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Track and Field Championships. It will be the next stop for Angela Stella who qualified for the state tourney after posting a 2:18.30 mark in the 800 at last week's District XI AAA Track and Field Championships held at Blue Mountain High School.

Head coach James Sebesta said that Stella earned the trip by beating the qualifying mark by a tenth of a second. The 2:18.30 time placed her in third place among the 23 runners.

"She ran a really good race," said Sebesta.

Also packing their bags for Shippensburg will be the boys 4x800 relay team. Sebesta said that foursome set another school record en route to their second-place finish. The group of Michael Leonhardt, J.C. Falcon, Mike Eible and Brian Plucinsky crossed the line in 8:06.24.

"They continued their strong running," said Sebesta.

While those were the only qualifiers, a number of Zephs had strong performances at the D-11 tourney. Mikaela Fedor was fourth in the shot put with a 34-08.00 toss, and Jake Wygant was fifth in the same event for the boys with a 49.08.25 mark.

Shay Gimbel was seventh in the discus (103-06.00), and Nicole Umbenhauer was eighth in the javelin (108-11.00).

Falcon was fourth in the high jump (6-3), while Calvin Schneck was seventh in the 3,200 with a 10:04.44 mark.

John Johnson was seventh in the 200 (23.32) and was eighth in the 100 (11.48).

The culmination to the track season awaits for this group at Shippensburg and Sebesta will have another relay team in tow, something that's become a familiar sight at the finals. The state meet gets under way May 24.

Sebesta was pleased with the showing at the district tournament. He said it's a deep field that in some respects is more of a test than when competing at states.

"I was really happy with the performance of the kids," said Sebesta.

The girls finished 18th at the district meet, while the boys finished 7th in a field of 16.