IUP Athletic Hall of Fame
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Rob Allen launched both javelins and footballs toward the heavens while at IUP and shattered records with both.
A four-time qualifier for the NCAA Division II track meet in the javelin, Allen placed 10th in both 1982 and 1983 before capping his career in 1985 by finishing fifth and earning All-America honors with a throw of 226 feet, 1 inch at Cal State Los Angeles.
His best heave came in 1984, when IUP hosted the PSAC meet. Allen's monster toss of 250-3 broke both the school and conference records, set in 1976 by IUP's Rick Goldbach, and earned him Most Valuable Field Athlete honors. What's more, that prodigious effort ranked as one of the top 30 throws by an American in 1984 and fell just short of the Olympic Trials qualifying standard.
He also won a PSAC championship in 1983 (233-10) and in 1985 placed third behind two Division I rivals in the College Division at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia with a throw of 223-3.
Allen twice earned All-PSAC West honors in football as IUP's punter. His career average of 38.9 ties him with Jim Haslett for third best in school history, and he still owns the sixth- (41.0) and seventh-best (39.4) single-season averages. His 77-yard punt at Slippery Rock in 1984 broke Haslett's IUP record for longest kick and still ranks second on the all-time list.
A senior account executive with Digital Intelligence Systems in McLean, Va., Allen resides in Reston, Va., with his wife, the former Tara Hicks, a fellow 1985 graduate whom Allen met while both were IUP track team members. They have two adult sons, Bobby Rae and Zack.
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