Spencer reaches podium at Junior Olympics

Spencer Allen of Ina recently participated in the USA Track & Field National Junior Olympics in Omaha, NE the week of July 22 through July 27.

Allen, 14 and entering Mt. Vernon Township High School as a freshman this fall, finished seventh nationally in the 100 meter (33”) hurdles and 16th nationally in the 200 meter (30”) hurdles.

In order to compete at the USATF Junior Olympics Allen first had to qualify at two previous meets.

The first meet was the USATF Illinois state meet held at Kankakee High School in Kankakee, IL. Spencer was first in the 200 meter hurdles with a time of 28.3 and was fourth in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.5 seconds.

These finishes qualified him for the USATF Region 7 meet held at North Chicago High School in Chicago.

USATF athletes from Illinois and Indiana met at the regional meet where Allen was first in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.9 seconds and second in the 200 meter hurdles with a time of 28.3 seconds. The top 2 finishers of each event at this meet qualified for the USATF Junior Olympics in Omaha.

At the Junior Olympics meet, Allen ran against 28 other runners in the 200 meter hurdles with a time of 28.4 seconds, finishing 16th overall. In the 100 meter hurdles he finished the preliminaries against 27 other athletes with a time of 14.5 seconds, qualifying him for the finals.

In the finals he finished seventh with a time of 14.6 seconds earning a spot on the awards podium, where the top 8 finishers received a medal.

During the summer months, Spencer runs for Marion Swamp Fox Track Club in Marion.