Greased lightening 216 In a world where all the obstacles are 42 inches high, it takes a lot of confidence to get through the day. Dwayne Allen, a freshman from Harrisburg, Penn.• has got that confidence. "I prefer to go to the '84 Olympics in the hurdles," Allen is saying... I run the dashes, from the 100 to the 400, but basically, I'm a high hurdler." Allen came to Harding and in his first four or five meets - he's not sure just how many they've had - he's won all the hurdle events he's entered. In January. Allen represented Harding at the Track and Field of America meet in Kansas City. Allen placed third in the 60-yard hurdles with a time of 7.37 seconds. He was the only American to place in the internat ional field. "Yeah, well in Kansas City I ran against a few Olympians and they got me by experience," Allen says. "I ran a decent race. I felt I should have run better. But the best is yet to come. I learned a few things. You do learn things in first-rate competition." Another outing against an international field at the Mason-Dixon games in Louisville was not so inspiring. "I crashed at the third hurdle," B. A. Adeniji - Jbadan, Nigeria Wayn~ Alsabrook - Richardson, TX Doyl~ Bailey - Batesville, AR Ruth Barnett - York, NE Naomi Buter - Memphis, TN Berley Beck - Kennett, MO James Bell - Huffman, TX Kyle Bolton - Mesquite, TX Thomas Bolz - Quartz Hill, LA Laura Brooker - Plantation, FL Nancy Brown - Romulus, MI Susan Brown - Judsonia, AR Jana Burleson - Oklahoma City, OK Alison Burnette - Mesquite, TX Sharon Camp - Jackson, TN Slacy Carneal - Crestwood. KY Taylor Carr - Virginia Beach, VA Brent Childress - Broken Arrow, OK Ben Church - Bates City. MO Gregory Clark - Stockton. CA George Cobb - Benton, AR Wayne Colson - Valdosta, GA Jena Conrad - Pauls Valley, OK Mariann Cox - Newnan, GA Sheila Cox - Lebanon, VA Marshell~ Dennard - Tallahassee, FL Sten Dunn - Garland, TX Gregory East· Houston, TX Second Semester Students Allen says. "That was it. But I'll remember that~ I learn something from each race." · The 7.37-second time at Kansas City was electronic; it convinced a lot of people that Allen is serious about '84. "Coach (Ted) Lloyd and coach (Clift) Sharp ... we sat down and talked about the Texas Relays, the Kansas Relays, the Penn Relays," Allen says. "Well, the time's all right, but I've got to be able to run with the world record holder. That's Renoldo Skeets Nehemiah. Yeah. He does it in 6.89. "And it's I3 flat in the 110. That's the one I'm interested in. I feel my race is outdoors." That's the one for ' 84. "It's just not the same here in college," Allen is saying. "I'm an undecided major. I'm just trying to keep my grades up between all this traveling. It gets rough . Believe me. It gets rough." Allen has spent the last two and a half years training - "straight through" - as he puts it. "You don't have time for no two month vacations," he says. "In high school, you had to be out there. The team needed you. In college, it's more me now. Individual running. You have to take responsibility for yourself. You have to know what you want to do." Allen began to get exposure in his junior year in high school. As a senior, he was second in the nation in the 6O-yard hurdles, fourth in the I lO's outdoors. "It got me a couple of AllAmericans, " Allen says. "I ran some pretty good times .... " It also got Allen "about ninety" scholarship offers. He remembers being recruited by Kansas, LSU, Tennessee, and Minnesota. "It was July, and I knew it was late," Allen says. "I'm a Christian, and I thought, 'With the goals I want to achieve, I ought to go to a Christian school.' " The decision pleased his parents; it also left him a long way from home. "Dad had a lot to do with my taking up track," Allen says. "He would coach us, but he would never force us. He was just behind us one hundred percent. ..And my Mom, you just look at her and you know she's behind you a hundred percent. "My father was the coordinator of my race. He would review every hurdle even though he never saw me race. From start to finish, he'd ask me about it and tell me what I did wrong. "I was the defending state champion in the 110's my senior year. I won it my junior year. My Dad had to go to the hospital and , when I went to see him, he told me, 'The only way you'll lose it, is if you false-start. ' "Yeah. I false-started. I just didn't remember ..." Allen has been in college long enough for the competition in the AIC to know who he is. But he isn't worried that other AlC hurdlers have a job to do - to beat Dwayne Allen. "I ran the same way against world-class," Allen says. "I never under-rate anybody. I take nobody for granted." And the pressure? "Over the last year, I've learned to channel my emotions. You definitely can peak too soon. "I know I can ' t win 'em all. My best could win it every time 1 run. But I can't say it will happen. There are other men on the track and what they do I can't control. I just don't take it as pressure. The Lord ain't gonna let me run no faster than I'm able, that's for sure." Allen is too concerned with developing his own race to worry about the competition. "I've got to be strong on top," he says, commenting on the weight training he hopes will give him more arm drive into the hurdles. "This fall, I just plan on sitting down and working it all out. To get my whole body in shape. I've never had a chance to do that before." Allen considers himself a "technique runner" and has been working on his "raw" speed. "I've be.en running hundreds
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==