Zallow, Elliott unable to qualify for national finals

March 9, 2019 at 12:08a.m.

Zallow missed qualifying by 0.003

By Dan Hiner

Youngstown State sprinters Chad Zallow and Jaliyah Elliott had their indoor season ended in the preliminary round of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The first day of the meet was Friday night at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala.

The YSU sprinters needed to finish in the top two in their heats or one of the top eight times overall to advance to the finals.

Zallow finished ninth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.787 seconds while Elliott came in 15th in the 60 dash at 7.36 seconds.

Both YSU runners received second-team All-America honors.

Zallow finished 0.003 of a second behind South Carolina’s Isaiah Moore for eighth place.

“It’s a huge honor to be here,” Zallow said. “I’m definitely not satisfied with the result. I’m just going to take this one on the chin, keep my head down and focus on outdoor, bounce back and have a good outdoor season.”

Flordia’s Grant Holloway won the hurdles for the third consecutive year with a 7.44, breaking the facility (7.56) and meet (7.45) records.

Zallow ends his indoor career with third- and fifth-place finishes in the hurdles at nationals.

He twice was a first-team All-American and also twice was a second-team All-American over the last four years.

Elliott, a junior, entered the 60 ranked 12th in the nation. She finished seventh the first heat.

LSU’s Kortnei Johnson won the 60 with a 7.15 in the first heat.

Elliott led her heat for nearly half the race in her first trip to nationals.

“I was expecting to do a little bit better,” Elliott said. “I thought my time was really good.”

YSU will open its outdoor season at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays on March 27-28.