Emily Allen All-Decade Team Graphic

All-Decade Team: Women's Field

By Sports Information

Williamsburg, KY – With 12 NAIA All-Americans and a pair of Mid-South Conference titles the women’s track & field team has been competitive on both the conference and national levels over the past decade. The Patriots have recorded one MSC Athlete of the Year and two MSC Champion of Character award and two MSC Coaches of the Year accolades. Also, the program has set five MSC meet records, 16 outdoor school records, and 16 indoor school records over the past decade. In addition to the records, the Patriots have posted 11 conference champions in field events during that span. With all of these accolades and honors, the one student-athlete that will represent the women’s field program on UC’S All-Decade Team is high jumper Emily Allen.

Allen is one of the most decorated field athletes in program history and has posted the highest finish at the NAIA National Championship. Allen’s stellar career that spanned from 2015-2020 including qualifying for both the Indoor and Outdoor NAIA National Championships in 2018, an MSC record, two program records, and a conference championship. Allen was also part of UC’s 2020 Indoor MSC Championship team, their first championship in program history.

“This is a huge honor for me! I am so thankful to my coaches and teammates that pushed me during every practice and cheered me on at every meet. And a huge thank you to Coach Greer who always believed in me, even after a tough freshman season and coming back from an injury, he always believed I could do great things on and off the track.”
– Emily Allen
Emily Allen All-Decade Infographic

Coming into her freshman campaign Allen had high expectations for the high jump.  She competed in seven meets, posting three top-five finishes in high jump.  Allen posted an indoor season-best mark of 1.56m at the Camel City Invite.  She opened her outdoor season with a leap of 1.55m to place fourth at the Southern Invite. Allen tied her season-best mark of 1.56m at both the UC Invite and the Mid-South Conference Championship to place third.  At the conference championships, Allen also competed in the long jump with a mark of 4.69m and the javelin where she threw 18.61m. 

Allen’s breakout season came during her sophomore year when she nine top-five finishes, three wins, and a conference title.  The sophomore cleared 1.50m in her season opener at the ETSU Invite, before competing in the high jump and heptathlon and the Findlay Classic, where she scored a career-high 2428 points.  As part of the heptathlon, Allen cleared 1.66m in high jump to qualify for the NAIA Indoor National Championship. At the MSC Championships, Allen notched her first collegiate win as she jumped 1.65m, to set both the program and conference record for indoor.  She followed that up two weeks later by clearing 1.65m at nationals to finish 9th, the highest finish by a Patriot field athlete. 

"Emily was one of those once in a generation athletes. She was a great student, in classroom as well as a fierce competitor on the field. She was a huge part of our success and it was an honor to coach her."
- Head Coach Randy Greer

Allen’s success continued during the 2018 outdoor season as she posted two wins and a school record.  The Shelby Township, MI native opened the season clearing 1.63m in the high jump, while scoring 2,999 points in the heptathlon at the 49ers Classic. Allen followed that up notching back-to-back high jump wins at the Montreat Invite and UC Invite.  On April 13, 2018, Allen etched her name in the program record book once again as she cleared a career-best 1.70m to set a new program record and qualify for outdoor nationals. She followed that up by notching a pair of third place finishes at the MSC Championships in the high jump (1.66m) and the heptathlon, where she recorded a career-best score of 3,128 points. The sophomore capped off her season at the NAIA National Championship, where she leaped 1.65m to place 14th.  

“My favorite memory was from the home meet my sophomore year. At that meet I jumped my PR of 5’7” and set the meet, school, and stadium records for high jump. The best part about it though was that all of my friends were there, as well as my family that drove all the way down from Michigan. I couldn’t have asked for a better meet to jump my best at. I remember this huge crowd of friends and family cheering every time I cleared a bar, and it was one of the happiest moments of my life.”
- Emily Allen

In 2019, Allen fought adversity as she missed the indoor season and the first half of the outdoor season.  Making her season debut at the UC Invite, the junior cleared 1.54m to place fourth.  The Shelby Township, MI native continued to improve over the next two meets clearing 1.55m at the UK Invite and 1.58m to place fourth at the MSC Championships. Allen closed out the season clearing 1.54m to place fourth at the Falcon Finale.  

“Coming back from my acl surgery was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. The surgery was painful, and the recovery was even harder. Every day I had to work so hard to do things that were so easy, like walking, doing my laundry, and moving my leg at all. I remember one day in physical therapy where I cried because I couldn’t jump over a two-inch high obstacle on the floor. A few months later, 5.5 months’ post-op, I jumped 5’2” at a track meet. There were times I thought there was no way I would be able to high jump again, so I was extremely thankful to be able to jump this, even if it was a bit off my PR. Going through this taught me so much about mental toughness, that if I didn’t believe in myself nobody else would. But most importantly, it taught me that my worth doesn’t come from setting records, jumping high, or national qualifications. My worth comes from God- and all the time I spent trying to be good enough to earn His love was a waste, because we could never do anything to earn God’s love.”
- Emily Allen

Allen looked to rebound during her senior season as she cleared 1.55m in her first two competitions of the 2020 indoor season. At the Tom Hathaway classic, the senior cleared a season-best 1.60m to place third in the event.  That jump was Allen’s best jump since the NAIA National Championships in May 2018.  Allen added another top five finish at the Camel City Invite where she placed fourth after clearing 1.55m.  At the MSC Indoor Championships, Allen recorded a jump of 1.55m to place third, while leaping 4.55m in the long jump to help the Patriots capture their first indoor conference title in program history.  Unfortunately, Allen’s career was cut short as she didn’t get the opportunity to compete during the 2020 outdoor season due to the CoVID-19 pandemic.

“Being able to run track at UC has meant the world to me. Running track here allowed me to continue playing my favorite sport in the world, all while making friendships that will stay with me forever and getting a great education. I know just how lucky and blessed that I am to have been able to spend four great years at UC, learning and growing in my faith, friendships, abilities, and knowledge.”
- Emily Allen

Allen graduated from UC in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry.   

The UC All-Decade Team was determined based on stats, awards & honors received, and significance to the program in addition to input for members of the UC Athletic Department. It will include one representative from every sport and be comprised of 29 student-athletes. The all-decade team looked at everything from the 2010-2011 season through the 2019-2020 season.