When the NYSPHSAA meet opens, it will be filled with runners and athletes from the greater Niagara region.
The athletes will be looking to carry on their success or reach for the top of the podium after making it thanks to their performances at the 2026 Section VI Track and Field State Qualifiers, Saturday, at Alden High School.
In total, the greater Niagara region accounted for nine individual or team winners on the second day of the event.
The most successful of those athletes was Wilson’s Ryan Hough, who won three events, the Class C 110-meter hurdles, the triple jump and the high jump. Hough flew through the 110 hurdles in a time of 15.48 seconds while he won the triple jump with a mark of 45 feet, 3 3/4 inches. The senior dominated the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 4 inches, good for 4 inches further than second place finisher Joshua Klinski.
Starpoint’s Zoe Samuel, who won the 100 dash with a time of 13.05 and the 200 with a time of 26.18, joins Hough as a dual winner.
The Class A triple jump events were dominated by Niagara Falls as the boys event was won by Bishop Palmer with a leap of 43-8.75, while the girls event was won by Niya Hamilton with a leap of 37-8.5.
The triple jump was also where Lockport’s Emelianna Giroux won the state-qualifying event by launching herself 5-1, good for exactly an inch ahead of second place finisher Williamsville North’s Mary Kate Dolan. The win sends the senior to the state meet for the first time in her career.
The Falls also had success on the track where Shiah Kennedy finished in second in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.67 seconds. The second-place finish means Kennedy is heading to the state meet for the first time in his career.
On the girls side, the Falls are sending T’Mya Jenkins after she won the Class A 200-meter dash in a time of 26.26. The Wolverines group going to Webster will include Kaleb Poole and the team’s 4×100 girls and 4×400 boys relay teams. As an individual, Poole is going through his runner-up finish in the 100 dash.
Poole’s three other teammates will join him as part of the 4×400 relay team, which finished in second. The Niagara Falls 4×100 girls relay team won for the third consecutive year with a time of 48.74.
Elsewhere on the track, Starpoint’s Shannon Zugelder continued her dominant weekend by winning the 2,000-meter steeplechase combined classes with a time of 7:10.23. Zugelder has now won the event for the second year in a row.
Niagara Wheatfield is another squad sending multiple runners to the state meet as Brielle Peterson and Josiah Rivera both finished in second in their respective races. Rivera is heading to the state meet after finishing runner-up in the boys Class B 400 with a time of 50 seconds.
One day after winning the 800, Peterson came in second in the 1,500 with a time of 4:46.33.
Niagara Wheatfield is sending its 4×800 relay team of Emily Desiderio, Ava Thurman, Teaghan Brady, Brielle Peterson thanks to a second-place finish with a time of 9:50.84.
There were also some runners who qualified for the state meet for the first time in their career. Lockport’s Leah Gaskill is heading there thanks to a second-place finish in the Class A 400 dash with a time of 57.39. Gaskill will also be making the trip as part of the Lockport 4×400 relay team, which finished in second, just behind Lancaster with a time of 4:02.54.