Nearly 30 years passed since Wilson reached the top of the podium and even longer since an individual won a state championship.
The last Wilson individual to win a state championship to win a state championship was pole vaulter Ben Faery in 1997. Ryan Hough ended the drought by winning the Class C long jump championship with a leap of 23 feet, 4 inches Saturday.
And he has a chance for more before the weekend is over.
Hough, whose career-best jump is 23-6, hit the mark on his second attempt of the day. It was good enough for the fifth-best jump in all classes. Colonie’s Ryan Buskey (Class A) had the best jump at 24-2.
He has a chance to win three more state titles on the second day Sunday after a sixth-place finish in the Class C 110-meter hurdles prelims thanks to a time of 15.16. He will return to the track on day two when he competes in the 110-meter hurdle finals as well as the high jump and the triple jump.
Hough is the favorite to win the high jump and triple jump, while entering the meet seeded third in the 110 hurdles.
In her final state meet, Niagara Wheatfield’s Brielle Peterson finished second in the Class B 800-meter final with a time of 2:12.40. It comes a year after finishing fourth in 2:15.39.
Starpoint’s Shannon Zugeldger returned to the podium by running 9:49.65 in a third-place finish in the Class B 3,000. Zugelder placed third in 9:53.26 last year.
Zugelder returns for two more races Saturday: the 2,000 steeplechase and the 1,500. She finished fourth in the event last year with a time of 7:11.94. She is also participating in the 1,500 championship after finishing that event in second with a time of 4:53.39 last year.
Starpoint’s Zoe Samuel finished ninth in the Class B 100 prelims with a time of 12.71. She also finished 14th in the Class B 200 prelims with a time of 25.95.
The Niagara Falls girls 4×100 relay team of T’Mya Jenkins, Kamari Simmons, Niya Hamilton and J’Nysha Cary finished 15th in the Class A prelims with a time of 49.37.
The event resumes at 9 a.m. Sunday.