By Charles Grove
cgrove@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
You’d be hard pressed to find a better track and field combination in the NCAA with genetics involved.
Youngstown State’s brotherly duo of Chad and Carl Zallow are two of the best in sprint events this season, and are looking to improve even more this weekend at the Penn State National Elite Invitational at State College.
At last week’s YSU invitational, Chad who’s ranked second nationally in the 60 meter hurdles, won that event by 0.32 seconds while Carl won the 60 meter dash by 0.1 seconds.
“They’re so driven,” YSU head coach Brian Gorby said. “They have the passion and the hard work. They do everything on their own during Christmas and their time off.
“They’re probably two of the top five we’ve ever had in our program in terms of work ethic,” Gorby said.
YSU has done a solid job of keeping local talent here in the Mahoning Valley. Aside from Chad and Carl, 16 other local track and field athletes on the team are on the men’s roster.
After getting Carl, the older of the brothers by a year, to commit to YSU, it wasn’t immediately clear if Chad would follow suit.
“Carl we knew would come in and help us but at that time you couldn’t talk to juniors for recruiting,” Gorby said. “Chad was looking at some big time schools at that point like Florida, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan in the early part of his recruiting process.”
When it came to be Gorby’s turn to pitch Chad on the thought of running for the hometown team, a couple things stood out, one being the ability to still compete against big schools and team championships.
“One of the big things that was instilled in us was being successful here,” Chad said. “We’re still going to big meets and competing against Division I schools, which competition definitely helps me get my times down.”
Gorby said while individual state titles were one thing for Chad at Warren JFK, the inability to field a complete team and win a team championship was something YSU could offer.
“We felt like with Chad, he could help us take YSU to another level,” Gorby said. “We knew from a team standpoint we could try to win team championships.”
The facilities YSU offered didn’t hurt either.
“The Watts Center is one of the best in the Midwest,” Chad said. “None of the facilities I toured even compared. There’s a brand new track, a great surface and lots of space inside to do what you’ve got to do.”
But in the end, one of the biggest reasons YSU was able to keep Chad from Big Ten schools was being able to run with his brother.
“Carl played a big role in me coming to YSU,” Chad said. “I was so used to running with him my whole life. Me and him talked about both being teammates again at YSU.”
And Chad said Carl came to that decision organically, without pressure from older brother.
“It may come to a surprise, but I had almost zero [direct] influence into Chad’s decision,” Carl said. “I let him and my parents take part in the recruiting process and I stayed away from it and minded my own business. I wanted him to make his own decision for his own future.”
Carl said its that personal passion and drive that have helped each other get to the points they are as athletes, constantly pushing one another to take that extra fractions of a second off their best times.
“I enjoy running with my brother because we share the same passion for track and field,” Carl said. “When you compare how motivated we are and our work ethic we take to the practice each and every day, and onto meet day, we are very much one in the same.”
The results of that drive will be especially tested for Chad this weekend as he goes up against hurdler Eddie Lovett, a University of Florida student who competed for the U.S. Virgin Islands at the 2016 Rio Olympics, finishing 30th overall in the 110 meter hurdles.
“I’m pumped up and excited knowing someone is going to be right there with me,” Chad said. “It’s a different mindset going up against athletes like that.”
