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Along came Jones: YSU wins women’s pentathlon
Horizon League meet concludes today
By Dan Hiner
Youngstown
Olivia Jones has already made a little history as a freshman with the Youngstown State track and field team.
Jones won the women’s pentathlon with 3,420 points on the first day of the Horizon League indoor championships Saturday at YSU’s Watson and Tressel Training Site. It was the third time the Penguins won the Horizon League pentathlon.
Jones came from Gloucestershire, England, and was the favorite to win the event.
“I was ready to just win, really, and break the school record if I could,” Jones said. “I had a bad long jump, so I was just aiming to win in the end.”
The YSU women have 60 points, second behind Oakland with 64. The Penguins lead the men’s standings with 59 points. Milwaukee (40 points) is second and Oakland (26) is third.
Nicolette Kreatsoulas and Jessica Stever also won field events for the Penguins.
Kreatsoulas, a Poland graduate, took first place with a toss of 17.40 meters in the women’s weight throw. Stever, who finished second to Jones in the pentathlon, won the long jump with a leap of 5.81 meters.
Chad Zallow set the facility record in the 60 meters with a time of 6.72. Josh Beaumont (6.92) finished second, Brendan Lucas (6.82) came in third and Valley Christian graduate Jamynk Jackson (6.94) crossed the line in fifth.
Zallow also qualified in the 60-meter hurdles and the 200. Beaumont, Lucas and Jackson also qualified in the 200.
Daiquain Watson became the first Penguins to win multiple Horizon League long jump titles. He won the event with a jump of 7.15 meters.
Dylan Latone also won his second consecutive Horizon League pole vault title after clearing 4.75 meters. Latone became the first pole vaulter in YSU program history to win event multiple times.
Girard graduate Collin Harden, Cody Sikora and Pierlus Stewart each qualified the 400 final. Harden posted a time of 49.52 seconds to finish second.
Jaliyah Elliott broke the meet and WATTS records in the 60 meters with a 7.26. Elliott also qualified in the 200.
“I know coming in tomorrow, my legs are gonna be a little more dead,” Elliott said. “But I’m still trying to run a faster time — push up my mark a little bit to make nationals [in the 60].”
Nicole Squatrito placed first in the women’s 800 preliminary with a 2:16.13. McDonald graduate Iva Domitrovich qualified in the women’s 400 and 200.
Lasting Local
Detroit sprinter A.J. Carnathan qualified for the finals in the women’s 60 meters.
The Ursuline graduate is a senior and came in seventh in preliminaries.
Zallow Running Routes?
The YSU senior said he wants to work out during YSU’s Pro Day or join the team for the 2019 season.
Zallow played wide receiver and safety at Warren JFK before turning his attention to the sprints and hurdles.
YSU is unsure if Zallow will be allowed to participate in the Pro Day, but Zallow has one semester left before he finishes his degree in business finance.
“The way the NCAA works is I can do four years of one sport — so track like this — and you actually have one year of another sport,” Zallow said. “Fifth year I can technically play football.”