Ricky Houser was motivated the whole week of practice leading up to the District 11 meet by his performance at the league meet as he felt he didn't do that well.

The junior said he "felt great" on day one of districts at East Stroudsburg South High School and took advantage of it as Houser earned silver in the triple jump with a new personal record of 43-09 that qualified him for the state meet.

Paryss Marshall and Trinity Henderson also qualified for the PIAA meet, which will be held on May 22 and 23 at Shippensburg University.

Houser, who will be making his first trip to Ship, had nothing, but states on his mind.

"I thought I didn't do great at leagues, so I just worked hard all week at practice thinking states the whole time. I just wanted states. The only thing on my mind was states, states, states. I needed to qualify."

Houser had a specific mindset heading into districts, and most track and field athletes have specific goals heading into a meet. However, Marshall, who jumped a personal best of 6-02 in the high jump to finished second and qualify, said that one can't really do that in a district-wide meet.

"It is hard to have a mindset because you don't really know how high you will need to go because you don't know what the other leagues are like. I just had to come in, practice all week, jump my highest and hope for the best."

Marshall, who will be playing football for Shippensburg University in the fall, also finished fifth in the 110 meter hurdles, but did not qualify in that event.

Ra'Von Burton and Ty Kern both finished high in their respective events, but saw their seasons come to a close. Burton finished fifth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.81 and Kern earned a bronze medal by finishing third in pole vault with a height of 12-06.

Henderson, who is in her third year on the track team, will be making her first trip to the state meet. The junior earned a silver medal in shot put with a throw of 37-0.5. Despite her local success, she knows it is a different ballgame out at Shippensburg.

"It is going to be a weird experience. I'm just going to see what the other girls are bringing and I will need to scale myself up to what they are doing. I want to get a new personal record up there and maybe more, but I know there are some girls in the state that throw pretty far."