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Warren JFK track stars look for more glory
Photo
Rice
Warren JFK stars
eye regional titles,
return to Columbus
By Joe Scalzo
Nearly a year after winning a state championship in the 100-meter hurdles, Warren JFK senior Morgan Rice has learned something about trying to repeat.
It’s really hard.
“There’s a lot of pressure,” said Rice, a Miami (Ohio) recruit. “It’s still been fun [this season] and I’m just trying to enjoy it, but I feel like I don’t want to let everybody down. Plus, everybody comes up to me and says, ‘Oh, she won state,’ so I just want to be able to do it again.”
The Mahoning Valley has three returning state champions in track and field and they’re all at the same school. In addition to Rice’s title, Eagles senior Carl Zallow is trying to repeat in the 100 while his younger brother, junior Chad Zallow, is defending titles in the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles (where he ran a 36.87 to shatter a 20-year-old state record).
If that puts a large target on the Zallows’ backs, well, that’s OK by them.
“The pressure is great for me,” Carl said. “It makes me work harder. Whenever I want to quit, I just think about how bad I want to repeat as a state champion.”
Added Chad, “I definitely like it. It pushes me to do good. And it’s always good when you have someone pushing you.”
Carl, a Youngstown State recruit, had a tremendous indoor season, winning the 200 while finishing second in the 60 behind Ohio State football recruit Parris Campbell of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary. That success has continued through the outdoor season. At last weekend’s Division III district meet, Carl won the 100 and 200 and helped the Eagles win the 4x200 and 4x400 relays.
Chad missed part of the indoor season with an injured hamstring, but is running even faster times than he did at this time last year, setting district records in the 110 hurdles (he ran 14.24 to break his own record from last season) and 300 hurdles (38.54, breaking the previous mark of 39.00 set by JFK’s Chris Verioti in 1998).
“It [the injury] affected me so I had to work extra hard to get back in shape and I think I’m back in shape,” Chad said. “Right now I’m faster than last year and I’m feeling good, so I’m happy about that.”
JFK’s track team isn’t very big, but it’s loaded with elite talent. On the girls side, senior Amber Brown and freshman Antonella LaMonica are both regional qualifiers in the 100 and 200 and the Eagles have a good shot to advance to Columbus in both the 4x200 and 4x400 relays.
JFK’s boys, meanwhile, have a shot at winning a team title. Senior Zach Watt enters this weekend’s meet with the region’s fastest 400 time, freshman Jacob Coates is an individual qualifier in the 100 and 300 hurdles and the Eagles’ 4x200 and 4x400 relays are both seeded first at the regional.
“They’re also great training partners,” Carl said. “We push each other every day in practice and it shows.”
Last year, JFK’s boys finished third in the team standings with 41 points — just eight behind first-place Columbus Academy. That JFK team was without a 4x400 relay that got disqualified after setting a district record, and probably would have contended for a state title (and, more importantly, the 10 team points that go along with it).
But instead of wondering what might have been, the Eagles have a chance to find out what could be.
“We definitely want to get to Columbus and do great things there,” Carl said.