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Senior Spotlight: Cody Allen

NEWTON – Just 2 1/2 hours before his high school graduation ceremony, Patoka senior Cody Allen was more than an hour from town facing a more intimidating obstacle.

It was a high jump bar.

With just a handful of jumpers left in the event at the Illinois High School Association sectional meet in Newton, Allen showed signs of nerves while waiting for his turn to try to clear 6 feet, which was his personal best.

He would fall short on all three attempts and finished in third place in an event where the top two qualified for this weekend’s state meet.

Allen said he was more nervous about the track meet than his graduation ceremony, because “I wanted to go state,” but coach Mike Conlon said being that close to qualifying for the state meet in his first year of participation is still a special moment.

“When he looks back, he’ll realize what he really did,” Conlon said

Allen said he had never even thought of high jumping before this spring, which was the first time Patoka offered a high school track program, and he enjoyed it so much that he said track would rival basketball in terms of which sport he liked better.

He was a four-year player for the basketball team, finishing his senior year as the top rebounder and the fourth highest scorer of the season.

Allen said he always enjoyed playing Woodlawn, which was a state power the past couple of seasons, even though the Warriors always lost.

“Playing Woodlawn was fun,” Allen said. “They were the best team, and we did a good job staying with them.”

But his sports enjoyment rolled over to the spring this season.

“It was very fun clearing 6 feet and starting high jump, which I never knew I could do,” Allen said.

It was that same 6-foot leap that kept him out of the state meet, however, but the way Allen started the afternoon, it didn’t seem like he would get anywhere close to the 5-foot-10 that he did clear.

He used several attempts to clear each 5-foot-6, 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10, but the jump that cleared 5-foot-10 appeared to have enough height to clear 6 feet.

“As he kept jumping, he got more comfortable with himself and more confidence built,” Conlon said. “That is why he got better.”

Allen said had he had more conditioning throughout the season and in years past, he probably wouldn’t have had such a sluggish start to the day.

Without all those extra attempts at the lower heights, Allen would have had a better chance at clearing 6 feet.

“I was little slow to start off, but later on I got better,” Allen said. “I was sore (at the beginning).”

With graduation now out of the way, Allen will soon be heading away to the Navy, but Conlon believes his impact on the Patoka track program will be lasting.

“The younger kids have looked up to him,” Conlon said. “What he has done is set goals for others.”

Patoka senior Cody Allen attempts to clear 6 feet in the high jump at the sectional meet at Newton last Friday. He would finish third in the event.

Patoka senior Cody Allen clears an early height during the high jump at the IHSA sectional in Newton last Friday.

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