SLIPPERY ROCK — Aster Chmielewski can rattle off the best female hurdlers in recent Slippery Rock High history.

She knows the names Melissa Sopher, Abbey Basta, Angie Shaffer and Elissa McCune by heart.

“It’s a legacy,” she said.

And she desperately wants to be a part of it.

Chmielewski, a junior, has cleared the first hurdle on that trek into the upper echelon of runners at the school by advancing to the PIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at Penn State University Saturday.

Chmielewski ran a time of 9.66 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles. That time was two-tenths of a second faster than her previous best time.

“I’ve been working up to it all season,” Chmielewski said. “Things hadn’t fallen together like that until that meet.”

It was perfect timing. Chmielewski will join Emily Campbell, who advanced in the shot put, in State College. It is the first time Slippery Rock has sent two athletes to the indoor state meet in the same season.

Campbell, who is also a basketball player for Slippery Rock, is able to compete because District 10 scheduled the Rockets’ playoff game against Mercyhurst Prep in Oil City for late afternoon to accommodate her.

“She’s going to have a very long day,” said Slippery Rock head track and field coach Tony Consbruck.

Chmielewski has already had a long career in the hurdles, starting in the seventh grade.

She doesn’t have ideal size for the event — she’s just 5-foot-3 — but she’s made up for it by honing her technique with the help of Slippery Rock hurdling coach Tom Meling.

“He’s the best coach ever,” Chmielewski said of Meling, who has coached all of the great hurdling names in recent Rocket lore. “He knows what he is doing.”

Because of her height, Chmielewski often has difficulty at the end of the race when her legs become fatigued.

She said she has been working hard at building up her lower body strength for the rigors of the event.

“The technique is the most important thing,” Chmielewski said. “In the 60-meter hurdles, you have less time to mess up.”

During the outdoor season last spring, Chmielewski was an alternate on the Rockets’ 3,200-meter relay team that advanced to the state meet.

It was her first experience taking in all that goes into a state track and field competition.

Now she’s ready to be one of the competitors.

“It was a great experience last year. It was so cool,” she said. “I think it showed what you could do if you work hard and want it.”

During the indoor season last year, Chmielewski injured her pelvis and missed a month. It slowed her down during the outdoor season.

This year, her main goal was to stay healthy.

Getting to the state meet, though, was a big bonus.

“I’m excited,” she said. “I don’t have the best time and I’m seeded pretty low, but it’s going to be a great experience.”

Consbruck said getting exposed to that atmosphere is the most important thing for Chmielewski.

“We run a low-key indoor season,” Consbruck said. “But just to be at the state meet will give her a taste. It will be invaluable.”

Chmielewski wants to join some of the names she knows by heart, not only in the Slippery Rock record books, but also in what they were able to accomplish after high school.

“I want to run the hurdles in college,” Chmielewski said. “Angie Shaffer came back when I was a freshman and ran with us. I want to do the same thing.”