Allen soars, then signs

Trey Allen stared at the yellow bar in front of him and told himself the time had come.

He was going to jump over it.

A chorus of claps filled the Birmingham CrossPlex as Allen, an Oak Mountain High School senior,  high-stepped toward the high jump pit. But the sound soon turned to a deep-throated roar when he launched his 6-foot-4 frame successfully over the 7-foot-high bar.

It wobbled tenuously as he somersaulted backward onto the mat. But it never fell from its perch.

“It felt easy, and it felt unreal,” said Allen, recounting the jump. “I went to sleep and woke up, and it was true that I actually did, so that's crazy."

Allen’s 7-foot clearance, notched in mid-January, catapulted him into rare air.

It made him the nation’s top-ranked high school high jumper and netted him a full track and field scholarship to the University of Louisville.

On Wednesday, he signed with the Cardinals.

“He’s not paying a penny,” said his head coach, Riley White. “In men’s track, that’s extremely uncommon, especially for a single event guy.”

Allen already had accepted a partial scholarship from Louisville at the time of his lofty leap. But the Cardinals coaching staff had told him they would offer him a full ride if he cleared 7 feet.

The incentive fueled him.

“I just grinded [sic], kept my head down, stayed humble and, by the grace of God, it just happened,” Allen said. “I'm just blessed.”

Allen did not expect stardom when he joined the track and field team two years ago. He decided to try high jump because White had watched him dunk a basketball and saw potential.

It didn’t take long for Allen to see it, too. He cleared 6-2 his first season and scored at the Class 7A state outdoor meet.

“I think that was just his tip of the iceberg,” White said.  

Time proved him correct.

Working with White and his wife, Marianne, Allen jumped 6-10.25 as a junior. Last winter, he gave up playing basketball so he could compete during the indoor and outdoor seasons.

“It's the best decision I've ever made,” Allen said.

After completing his high school football career this past fall, Allen, a wide receiver, turned his attention back to track. He took a visit to Louisville, where he felt at home, and began to prepare for the indoor campaign.

Then came the 7-foot clearance.

Even at that lofty height, White said Allen still has room for growth.

“He’s a natural, and that’s what Louisville sees in him, is a kid whose ceiling is significantly higher than 7 feet,” White said.

Allen jumped 6-9 at the state indoor championships Feb. 1, setting a 7A meet record and claiming his first individual state title. He tried to clear 7-1 but grazed the bar on all three of his attempts.

“I thought I could have done better,” Allen said, “but I can't complain about a state record.”

This outdoor season, Allen hopes to raise the bar even higher. He’d like to win a national championship and become the highest high jumper to ever come out of Alabama.

History, like gravity, is waiting to be defied.

“Big things,” said Allen, confidently, “big things coming.”