All-Metro Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year

The Edwardsville High senior hadn’t broken the elusive 50-foot barrier in four years and was determined to knock down that final wall.

“It was just, ‘This is the time to do it,’” Allen said.

As Allen sailed down the runway, a sense of calm came over him at every stage.

He was confident that his final jump would be the one that would break the barrier.

“I wasn’t that scared,” Allen said. “I felt confident in the work I put in in training and preparing for it. I feel like I prepared well for it. I wasn’t worried.”

Similar to his junior season, where the final jump of the year claimed his first state championship, Allen’s final jump topped the personal mark he set, landing 50 feet, 6 inches away from where he started.

It also helped the Tigers to a Class 3A team championship.

“To see him lift that trophy, knowing he played a major role in that championship, you couldn’t ask for a better way to end your senior year,” Edwardsville coach Chad Lakatos said. “It was priceless for him and the kids.”

The 2024 Post-Dispatch All-Metro Boys Athlete of the Year was undefeated in the triple jump and claimed six individual championships. His jump of 15.39 meters (50 feet, 6 inches) broke a 42-year-old outdoor school record and ranks fourth in the country, according to trackandfieldnews.com. He also claimed a conference championship in the long jump with a jump of 6.83 meters.

It was his first year competing in the long jump.

Before joining the track team as a freshman, Allen excelled on the football field and basketball courts. Tigers assistant coach Carry Bailey used this to recruit Allen to the highly successful track program.

“It’s just a good selling point: ‘Hey, come out, run fast and it’ll help on the football field,’” Bailey said. “Jump high here and it will help you on the basketball court.” That’s always been a big selling point.”

Allen already had an abundance of athleticism flowing from his long frame, and the Edwardsville coaching staff used that to hone his triple jump skills.

“Take some of those skills from those athletic backgrounds and put them together, and you have a great athlete,” Bailey said.

The all-conference recognition as a senior on the basketball court was just a precursor to what he would unleash on the court. After basketball, Allen won the Illinois Top Times Indoor Championship in triple jump with a school record of 48-9.5.

His three years with the Edwardsville football team and four years with coach Dustin Battas on the basketball court were the best training Bailey or Lakatos could think of.

“That’s the best training you can give a kid, so go out there and be a competitor,” Bailey said.

While being a multi-sport athlete was a boon to the Edwardsville coaching staff, it shortened his time as a triple jumper.

But Bailey wouldn’t have seen him in other sports for the past four years.

“As a coach, I would like to be greedy and have him all year round, but I think taking a break and playing other sports has developed other skills that help you,” Bailey said. “Now he has to make some big decisions and his career will certainly be focused on jumping from now on.”

After an individual state championship as a junior but no team trophy, Allen was brainstorming how he could help his team bring home some team hardware as a senior.

“I knew I would do what I could in the triple jump, but I wanted the team to win and I was willing to do whatever it took to win,” Allen said.

Allen even joked that he would have learned how to throw the discus if that was what it took to win the team title.

“As an Edwardsville Tiger, receiving that trophy is a special moment,” Bailey said. “The night before, your picture with that trophy will hang in the dormitory at Edwardsville High School until it is gone. We have a special opportunity, and he saw that.”

Although he has had some official visits to schools including Indiana University and the University of Illinois, Allen has not officially committed to anything.

But Lakatos knows exactly what a university gets in his 15-meter-long jersey.

“The college is getting an athlete who will be loyal to the program,” Lakatos said. “He’s hungry to compete, and he’s a winner. I believe Malik can step in right away and score in whatever conference he goes to. He’s going to medal and he’ll potentially score big points in the triple jump for them.”

And as striking as he is, Bailey has heard the term “raw” used many times when talking to college coaches about Allen.

“As good as he is in the triple jump, he can get so much faster and make some big strength gains in the weight room,” Bailey said. “One of the coaches called me and said he loved him and described him as a diamond in the rough. Whatever college is the final choice, it’s getting someone who might come back to Eugene next year as an NCAA qualifier.”

Hearing this and knowing he still has untapped potential doesn’t scare Allen.

It’s a new barrier he has to break.

“With a little practice and the weight room it will be pretty scary to see what happens,” Allen said. “But I’m not scared. I’m looking forward to seeing it.”