Three area high school students to compete in NCAA

Canfield’s Audra Frimpong will attend Alabama.

By JOHN KOVACH

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

Three area high school track and/or cross country standouts have signed NCAA letters of intent to continue their athletic careers in college.

They are Ashley Galbraith and Bob Zanni, both from Struthers, and Audra Frimpong of Canfield.

Frimpong, a sprinter/long jumper who won the 2007 Division I state outdoor long jump championship (19-61⁄2) as a junior last spring, will attend the NCAA Division I University of Alabama on a full track scholarship.

The daughter of Florence and Dr. Joseph Frimpong, she will compete in the long jump and perhaps other track events at Alabama where she is considering majoring in exercise science and nutrition.

Frimpong won the state indoor long jump title as a sophomore and junior, and was second in the 60-meter dash as a junior. She also placed fourth in the nation in the long jump at the Nike outdoor nationals last summer.

Galbraith, a three-time Metro Athletic Conference champion in the high jump, will go to Div. I Ohio State on a partial track and field scholarship and compete in the high jump and perhaps the heptathlon.

The daughter of Patricia and Marcus Hill, Galbraith has a 3.4 GPA and plans to major in athletic training.

She won her MAC high jump titles by clearing 5-4, 5-6 and 5-8 as a freshman, sophomore and junior, respectively. She also placed second in the state meet as a sophomore (5-5) and third as a junior (5-6).

Galbraith, encouraged by her two-inch-a-year improvement in the high jump, is hoping that she can clear 5-10 this coming season.

Zanni, the 2007 Metro Athletic Conference cross country champion, will attend Div. II Seton Hill College on an academic and athletic scholarship.

Zanni, the son of Dora and Bob Zanni who has a 3.46 grade-point average, will run cross country and track at Seton Hill while majoring in either engineering or high school mathematics education.

He won last season’s MAC cross country championship with a 16:50 time over a 3.1-mile course.

Zanni also placed 14th in the Div. II regional at Boardman to join the top 16 who qualified for the state meet, where he placed 58th out of 148.

He also played baseball at Struthers. He didn’t run track but plans to do so at Seton Hill.

kovach@vindy.com