University Southern California Trojans
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/ Track & Field
Getting To Know Eric Allen Jr.
February 20, 2019 | Track & Field, Features
Freshman Eric Allen Jr. has had a strong indoor campaign, including setting the USC freshman record in the indoor 200m dash. He is expected to be a big part of the Trojan sprint corps moving forward. We had a chance to sit down with the Geoscience major this week.
Q - How have you been enjoying USC so far?
E.A - I love it, this is my home away from home. I come from Maryland – that's a five and a half hour flight, 2000 miles, and I don't miss it at all. I love USC.
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Q - What has been the biggest adjustment since coming from Maryland?
E.A. - Probably being self-reliant. My parents won't always be there to fall back on, and I have to be independent with being on top of my work, motivating myself in school, practice, et cetera.
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Q - Your 200 meter time (20.63) at the Texas Tech Classic set a USC Freshman record and ranks fifth-best all time for USC. How does it feel to already have these achievements under your belt so early in your college career?
E.A. - It feels great. In my mind, I knew that I was going to run something special that day. It's a great achievement, but I have more to accomplish
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Q - Do you think that having that race behind you will be a help going forward in the season?
E.A. - Oh, absolutely, it's a real big confidence booster. It showed me that I could compete with anybody on the NCAA level.
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Q - How do you prepare for races? Do you have a specific routine you follow the day before or day of?
E.A. - No, my routine is pretty simple. Lunch… I don't really contact anybody, I'm not really on social media. I like to watch The Dark Knight the night before a competition, and on the day of a competition I'll just listen to music, I don't watch TV. When I warm up, I'm pretty quiet, just focusing, getting ready to compete.
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Q - Do you have a preference for running indoors versus running outdoors?
E.A. - Living in Maryland, at first I hated indoor track, like really, really hated it. Then, I guess I got to liking it, but outdoor is way better than indoor.
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Q - Are you planning on continuing to run track after graduation?
E.A. - Oh, absolutely, that's the plan. I have big aspirations for the Olympics and world championships after college.
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Q - Your bio mentions that someday you want to go storm chasing in tornado alley. What inspired that?
E.A. - Well, meteorology has been a passion of mine since I was seven or eight years old. And one of the TV shows that was around during 2008 or 2009 was called Storm Chasers. Â On that show they basically chased these violent storms in the Plains and in the South, and I was very intrigued. And then my passion for meteorology just grew through the years. It's just neat to love a field that you can never stop learning about. You can learn something new every day, and every storm is different in its own way.
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Q - What is your proudest achievement from high school?
E.A. - I would say it's either my U.S. No.  2 all-time 300m run of 32.84 or it's my U.S. No  4 all-time 200m indoors, 20.91. It's a toss-up between those, but outside of races, I think my greatest achievement was helping build the Bullis Track and Field team, which just broke two high school national records in January in the 4x200m and the 4x400m relays.
Q - What are you most looking forward to for the rest of this season?
E.A. - To competing and winning a national title!
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Q - How have you been enjoying USC so far?
E.A - I love it, this is my home away from home. I come from Maryland – that's a five and a half hour flight, 2000 miles, and I don't miss it at all. I love USC.
Â
Q - What has been the biggest adjustment since coming from Maryland?
E.A. - Probably being self-reliant. My parents won't always be there to fall back on, and I have to be independent with being on top of my work, motivating myself in school, practice, et cetera.
Â
Q - Your 200 meter time (20.63) at the Texas Tech Classic set a USC Freshman record and ranks fifth-best all time for USC. How does it feel to already have these achievements under your belt so early in your college career?
E.A. - It feels great. In my mind, I knew that I was going to run something special that day. It's a great achievement, but I have more to accomplish
Â
Q - Do you think that having that race behind you will be a help going forward in the season?
E.A. - Oh, absolutely, it's a real big confidence booster. It showed me that I could compete with anybody on the NCAA level.
Â
Q - How do you prepare for races? Do you have a specific routine you follow the day before or day of?
E.A. - No, my routine is pretty simple. Lunch… I don't really contact anybody, I'm not really on social media. I like to watch The Dark Knight the night before a competition, and on the day of a competition I'll just listen to music, I don't watch TV. When I warm up, I'm pretty quiet, just focusing, getting ready to compete.
Â
Q - Do you have a preference for running indoors versus running outdoors?
E.A. - Living in Maryland, at first I hated indoor track, like really, really hated it. Then, I guess I got to liking it, but outdoor is way better than indoor.
Â
Q - Are you planning on continuing to run track after graduation?
E.A. - Oh, absolutely, that's the plan. I have big aspirations for the Olympics and world championships after college.
Â
Q - Your bio mentions that someday you want to go storm chasing in tornado alley. What inspired that?
E.A. - Well, meteorology has been a passion of mine since I was seven or eight years old. And one of the TV shows that was around during 2008 or 2009 was called Storm Chasers. Â On that show they basically chased these violent storms in the Plains and in the South, and I was very intrigued. And then my passion for meteorology just grew through the years. It's just neat to love a field that you can never stop learning about. You can learn something new every day, and every storm is different in its own way.
Â
Q - What is your proudest achievement from high school?
E.A. - I would say it's either my U.S. No.  2 all-time 300m run of 32.84 or it's my U.S. No  4 all-time 200m indoors, 20.91. It's a toss-up between those, but outside of races, I think my greatest achievement was helping build the Bullis Track and Field team, which just broke two high school national records in January in the 4x200m and the 4x400m relays.
Q - What are you most looking forward to for the rest of this season?
E.A. - To competing and winning a national title!
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