Issue link: https://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1163127
17 W hen Larry Wieczroek was named head men's track and field coach at the University of Iowa in 1998, his first order of business was signing a thrower he could build the program around. "Explosive" is how Wieczorek described Jeremy Allen from Pike High School in Indianapolis. A standout in football and track and field, Allen was recruited by several universities with the stipulation that he select one sport or the other. All the interest he received from Big Ten schools came in track and field. "I didn't get any football offers, but I knew I could play," Allen said. Wieczorek offered an acceptable solution: become a full-time thrower during his first year on campus, then walk onto the football program if head coach Hayden Fry was interested. "I did well in track," said Allen, who became a five-time All-American and four-time Big Ten champion. "But wherever I went, I wanted to do both. Aer the first week of football practice, Hayden Fry gave me a full football scholarship and from there I played both." It didn't take Allen long to make an impact in track and field. In 1998, he was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year for both indoor and outdoor, the first person in conference history to accomplish that feat. He also won the U.S. Junior Championships in the discus before placing fourth at the World Junior Championships in France. Allen still holds Iowa's school record in the outdoor shot put (63-feet, 2 ¾ inches), he is fih in discus (195-4), and seventh in hammer (199- 0). Indoors, Allen has the third-best effort by Hawkeye in the shot put (62-10 ½) and fih in weight throw (65-10 ¼). All five of those marks were set in 2001. One of his athletic highlights was winning the Big Ten indoor shot put title on his final attempt in 2000 in Bloomington, Indiana. e toss of 61-4 ¼ surpassed the leading mark by Wisconsin's Anders Holmstrom, who stood 7-feet tall and weighed 330 pounds. "Iowa was a great place for me and I was blessed to have the opportunities I did," Allen said. "It was at Iowa where I grew into a man, became more responsible, and understood time management. Because of that, I was able to balance sports and school." As a fullback in football from 1998-2001, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Allen carried the ball 99 times for 438 yards and four touchdowns; he caught 36 passes for 386 yards and four more scores. Most of his yardage came in 2001, when the Hawkeyes went 7-5 for their first winning season in four years. Allen ran the ball 52 times for 242 yards with four touchdowns and caught 20 passes for 264 yards and four touchdowns. During a 59-16 win over Northwestern on Nov. 10, 2001, Allen had two rushing touchdowns and one receiving.