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Zallow accustomed to top ranking

YOUNGSTOWN — Chad Zallow is used to having No. 1 attached to his name.

He was ranked as the nation’s top 60-meter hurdler during his junior year at John F. Kennedy High School in the indoor track and field season.

Zallow followed that up with a time of 13.50 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles in the outdoor campaign his senior season at JFK, ranking him tops in the nation once again.

As a freshman at Youngstown State during a February indoor meet, he set the 19 and under record in the 60 hurdles at 7.69.

This season, the 2015 JFK graduate and YSU sophomore now holds two No. 1 rankings in the same month. He began December with a 7.78 in the YSU Icebreaker, then followed it up a week later at the Dec. 10 Golden Flash Gala at Kent State with a 7.74. Both times ranked Zallow as tops in the nation in the 60 hurdles.

“I opened up with a much faster time than last year. I’m excited to see what’s to come this season,” Zallow said.

The top 16 performers in each event advance to the NCAA national indoor meet March 10-11 at College Station, Texas.

YSU sprints coach David Townsend said with Zallow’s times, he has a great shot of getting that top 16 in the 60 hurdles.

Zallow, who was recruited by Notre Dame, Ohio State and Penn State, chose the Penguins as his home.

He quickly adjusted from the 39-inch hurdles in high school to the 42-inch standard at the collegiate level.

“Chad has improved with his speed,” Townsend said. “His technique is great. He came here pretty much as a finished product. We fixed some minor things.

“Overall, Chad works hard. He enjoys the competition. He’s a kid that doesn’t wilt from it. We’re hoping to keep it going. He’s a very consistent performer. He’s very talented.”

Zallow won state titles in 2015 in the 100 dash and 100 and 300 hurdles. That, combined with current JFK senior Jacob Coates finishing first in the 200 and second in the 100, gave JFK its first-ever track and field state title.

Zallow hopes he can reunite with his former Eagles teammates at YSU.

“He came on a visit here,” Zallow said. “I’m hoping, as well as the whole YSU family, he can come and reunite with us again and do big things here.”

Zallow and the rest of the YSU team won’t compete again until Jan. 14 at the Doug Raymond Invitational back at KSU.

“I’m looking forward to it because I think I have a lot more work to do,” he said. “I’m excited to get in the weight room and get more reps in the hurdles. Next time I open it’s got to be even faster with all this training.”

Both Zallow and his older brother, Carl, a YSU junior, are tireless competitors. Sometimes resting is not in their vocabulary.

“I have to monitor them both,” Townsend said. “We tell them more is not better. Rest is not a bad four-letter word. The rest is where your body grows.

“I think the guys are pretty much in tune with that now. Their freshman years were work hard, work hard, work hard. Sometimes you grind your body to a halt. They’ve bought into that. They understand rest is very important for growth in their events. They’ve been doing that.”

Chad’s times in the 60 hurdles during the Golden Flash Gala could set Zallow up for an NCAA berth in March.

“I’m comfortable knowing my time is going to get me in,” he said. “Just to be safe, I want to get my time down a little bit more to lock it up for sure.”

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