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                         August 22, 2003

Former Army track star shines at Pan American Games

WEST POINT -- Former Army distance runner Anita Allen (USMA 2000) earned a berth to the 2004 Summer Olympics following a first-place finish in the modern pentathlon at the Pan American Games being hosted by the Dominican Republic.

Her victory in the final event, the 3000-meter cross country race, propelled her from her fifth place to the gold medal and a trip to Athens.

Allen, a 1st Lt. in the Medical Services Corps, competed at the Games as a member of the Army World Class Athlete Program. The WCAP takes elite Army athletes and trains them for international competition.

The former outdoor Army track captain opened the pentathlon with runner-up honors in shooting followed by a personal best 2:27.19 in the 200 freestyle that earned her sixth place in swimming. After an 0-6 start in fencing, she captured nine of her final 16 matches to rank 11th, then scored 1,172 points following a superb second-place finish in the equestrian portion of the competition.

Allen found herself in fifth place and with a 42-second handicap (staggered start) heading into the final 3000-meter race, but she could not have written a better script as this was her strongest event. It was running that she shined in during her four years as a collegiate athlete at West Point. She was the team’s MVP in cross country and among the Patriot League’s leaders as a distance runner in track.

Cuba’s Katia Rodriguez, Brazil’s Samantha Harvey and Team USA’s Mary Beth Iagorashvill all started ahead of Allen in the cross country race. She closed the gap on the final loop to cross the finish with a winning time of 10:44.45 to nip Harvey by 12 points for the pentathlon title with her 5,268 composite en route to becoming the first member of WCAP to earn a berth to the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The victory took on an even higher priority for Allen as it was dedicated to her former classmate at West Point, 1st Lt. Leif Nott, a recent casualty in Iraq. She honored Nott’s memory by wearing a black armband bearing his name.

One of Allen’s biggest supporters is Jerry Quiller, her cross country and track coach during her days at West Point. "I am very happy WCAP included Anita in its program. She has an excellent track background. During her cadet career, she did a lot of cross training in the pool. She was an excellent swimmer in high school and did her morning workouts primarily in the pool, which aided her in becoming a better distance runner. At the time we did not realize that we were helping set a course for her future role.

"When you look back on it, Anita gained her start in three of the five pentathlon events at West Point. She came to the academy as a distance runner who used swimming as part of her development. During her military training, she scored very high in rifle sighting, which proved helpful in her resume for the program. The WCAP honed those skills and helped her master fencing and riding. It certainly turned out to be worth the effort.

"During her time at West Point, she suffered through some nagging injuries that limited what she could have achieved. Anita got off to a great start in cross country her senior year with first and second place finishes, respectively, against Cornell and Yale teams that had All-American runners. I felt she was well on her way herself to earning All-America honors, but shortly after she was injured.

"We are all proud of Anita at West Point, and I was pleased to see that it was her running abilities that won the title," joked the Army mentor. "She was an excellent team captain who was always willing to do more for the program."