Zachary Schultz picked the right time to run the race of his life.
Seeded 10th in the Class C 110-meter hurdles at the NYSPHSAA track and field championships in Middletown, Schultz raced to a second-place finish in 56.30 seconds. It was nearly a full second faster than the 57.13 Schultz ran to win the Section VI state qualifier last week.
More impressively, the race was run in three heats and Schultz decimated the rest of the field. He was 1.53 seconds faster than Frewsburg’s Noah Erickson, who placed second in the heat.
Overall, Schultz was 0.35 seconds faster than Dansville’s Ivan Wolf-Mialky and behind James I. O’Neill’s Daniel Bauman, who had the fastest time in any class, 55.20. Schultz did not hit the cutoff time of 55.52 to be one of the eight participants in the overall state final Saturday.
Niagara Wheatfield’s Nicholas Morgan ran the 800 meters in the third fastest time in Class B and was fifth in the entire state.
Morgan’s time of 1:52.58 was 0.22 seconds faster than Lewiston-Porter’s Leo Clark, who took fourth in Class B and seventh overall, while breaking his own school record. Morgan was less than a second behind Pearl River’s Jayden Lloyd McKenna, who was second in Class B and fourth overall.
Morgan ran nearly 6 seconds faster in the event than he did at states a year ago. In his first appearance at the state meet, Morgan ran 1:58.39 and finished 13th in Division 1 and 19th overall.
Garden City’s Donald McDonough won class B in 1:51.86, while Huntington Saint Anthony’s runner James Ciaccio had the state’s top time in 1:49.64.
Meanwhile, Wilson’s Ryan Hough sixth in the Class C long jump with a career-best leap of 21 feet, 10 inches. Hough, who jumped 21-9.5 to win the Section VI state qualifier last week, recorded his best jump on his sixth and final attempt.
The junior jumped 17-9 on his first attempt and cleared 21 feet just once in the first five before finally getting off his best attempt. Midlakes’ Aiden Bryant won Class C with a jump of 23-7, the only performer in the class to crack 23 feet.
Hough also competed on Wilson’s 4×100 relay team alongside teammates Keegan Herrmann, Michael Ruble and Aidan Neumann. The Lakemen finished seventh in Class C with a time of 43.82 seconds, behind champion Aquinas, which ran 42.20.
Competing in his second state meet, Roy-Hart’s Braden Ricker finished 12th out of 17 competitors in the 200 prelims, finishing in 22.87 seconds. Collegiate School’s Liam Sherwood had the top time in 22.02.
Niagara Wheatfield’s Josiah Rivera placed 15th of 23 in the Class B 400 by finishing 50.08 seconds. Elmont’s Aidan Peterkin won in 47.77 seconds. Rivera’s teammate Jonah Goldman was 15th in shot put (130-4), as Oneida’s Jacob Marji had a top throw of 171-1.
Niagara Falls’ Donovan Jackson ran 15.92 seconds to finish 14th in the Class A 110 hurdles prelims. Cicero-North Syracuse’s Camron Ingam had the top time in 13.80 seconds.
Zugelder, Christensen make a splash
Shannon Zugelder started her state meet with a bang.
The Starpoint junior took third in the Class B 3,000 meters and ninth overall with a time of 9:53.26. The last 400 meters were her best, as her finishing kick moved her five spots up the leaderboard and allowed her to run the best time of her career by nearly 11 seconds.
Zugelder’s final split of 1:09.83 was the best in Class B and trailed only Class A champion Zariel Macchia, of William Floyd, and Hastings’ Caitlin Thomas, who won the Class C championship. Zugelder is scheduled to compete in the steeplechase Saturday.
Grand Island’s Brooke Christensen is back on the state podium.
The senior finished fourth in the Class B shot put with a top throw of 37 feet, ¼ inch. She hit the throw on her second of six attempts and didn’t hit 36 on the other five. Miller Place’s Jillian Scully won with a heave of 45-11.5.
Christensen placed third in Division 1 last year with a throw of 38-6.5. She placed eighth in the state overall with a throw of 36-2.5 in the Federation meet.
Niagara Wheatfield’s Brielle Peterson finished fifth in the Class B 800 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 15.39 seconds. Williamsville East’s Lilly Ascone was third in 2:12.91, while Bayport-Blue Point’s Sophia McInnes (2:06.14) won by more than 5 seconds.
Niagara Falls’ Kamari Simmons 15th in the Class A 400 in 1:00.96. Baldwin’s Breanne Barnett won in 55.41. Simmons also joined the Niagara Falls trio of Cherish Walker, Natilya Dewberry and T’Mya Jenkins to finish 17th in the 4×100 relay prelims (49.76).
Another Wolverine, Madisyn Colvin, placed 10th in the shot put with a throw of 33-2.25.