SLIPPERY ROCK — Dan Hartzell had to make sure it was real.

So, he looked both ways.

When the Slippery Rock High school senior crossed the finish line at the District 10 Class AAA championships last Thursday, he took a glance to his left, then to his right, to make sure no one was around him.

"The coaches were laughing at me," Hartzell said.

And Hartzell was smiling at the end of a district race — finally.

He hadn't had much cause for grinning in years past. This was the senior's last chance to reach the PIAA Track and Field Championships.

He left little doubt in this 800-meter race, finishing in 2 minutes, 1.74 seconds for the district title and a place at the state meet in Shippensburg this weekend.

"I knew going into the district meet that I had it in me," Hartzell said.

Hartzell had close calls in his first three years. He was one of the Rockets' top runners, but he always missed qualifying for the state championships.

"He's had a kind of turbulent, up-and-down kind of career," said Slippery Rock distance coach Tony Consbruck. "He's performed well, but always came up short, whether it be cross country or track."

Hartzell, who was determined to change his luck, spent the season focusing on the 800 instead of putting all of his energy into the relay events.

"It's just been a really great year for me as an individual," Hartzell said. "I know I can run with that group out there (at the state meet)."

Hartzell will have his work cut out for him at Shippensburg because there are 22 runners in the Class AAA 800-meter run who have times under 2 minutes.

Hartzell wants to be among them.

If he does, he will break the school record of 2:00.3 set by Andrew Raisley in 2002.

"Right now my biggest goal is going after the school record," Hartzell said. "That's the plan."

Don't doubt Hartzell this season. He has renewed confidence.

"My coaches always told me that running is 90 percent mental," Hartzell said. "If you want it, you have to have it in your head that you can do it. You have to do anything it takes to get that goal."

Hartzell is heading to states with a nothing-to-lose attitude. That might be his biggest weapon inShippensburg.

"At the district meet, he ran a 2:01 basically by himself," Consbruck said.

Hartzell's second 400 meters was faster than his first.

"As a coach, that tells me he can go faster," Consbruck said.

Whatever happens at the state meet, Hartzell has a district championship to his name.

"After what he has gone through, to be a district champ and qualify for state is something special," Consbruck said.