INDIANAPOLIS – Youngstown State freshman Chad Zallow and Milwaukee junior Leah Holmes have been named the 2016 Alfreeda Goff Athletes of the Year for the Indoor Track and Field season.
Zallow has had a record-breaking indoor season in the 60 meter hurdles. The freshman began his inagural indoor season setting a school record of 7.89 seconds. Throughout the season, the freshman continued to lower his own record. In his final meet of the regular season, Zallow placed first at the Akron Zips Invitational, setting a new school record along with the Akron Stile Field House reord. His winning time of 7.69 seconds ranks as the fastest time in the nation in Division I. Zallow has earned Horizon League Runner of the Week accolades three times this season.
Holmes set multiple personal records during the indoor season, placing first or second in all of her events so far except one. With a time of 2:14.40 in the 800 meters, she has the fifth-fastest time in Milwaukee history. Leading the conference in the mile with a time of 4:55.87, she is second in Panthers history. The kinesiology major ran the 3000 meters for the first time this season, taking second in the GVSU Mike Lints Alumni Open meet and ranking third in the conference with a time of 10:00.83. Holmes is also the anchor of Milwaukee’s Distance Medley Relay, running a mile split of 4:53. She recieved Runner of the Week accolades two times this season.
The Horizon League Track Athlete of the Year Award was renamed to the Alfreeda Goff Athlete of the Year Award this offseason in honor of former Horizon League senior associate commissioner Alfreeda Goff. Goff, who worked at the Horizon League for 16 years, is one of the most recognized administrators in intercollegiate athletics. Before moving into athletic administration, Goff served as the track and field coach at the University of Pittsburgh. She currently sits on the advisory board for the Bowerman Award, the highest accolade given to the year’s best student-athlete in American collegiate track and field.
