Allden came to Coastal Carolina after spending the past five years as the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at the University of South Carolina. He has also served in similar positions at the University of Georgia, the University of North Carolina and Tulane University.
In his five years as the distance coach for South Carolina, Allden led the programs to unprecedented heights. He led the women’s cross country program to its highest finish ever in the Southeastern Conference in 1999 and had two athletes earn All-SEC honors. The team also won the State Championship in 1998 and 1999. At the completion of the 1999 season, Allden was honored as the South Carolina Division I Women’s Cross Country Collegiate Coach of the Year. In the classroom, USC was named a WICCCA All-Academic Team five consecutive years.
In track, Allden helped both USC’s men’s and women’s programs to their highest ever finishes at both the NCAA and SEC levels. The women’s track and field team finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in each of his five years, while the program placed as national runner-ups at the Indoor Championships in 2000 and 2001. The USC men’s track team, which placed fourth nationally in 1999, had nine top-20 finishes at the NCAA’s during Allden’s tenure. Allden coached the men’s outdoor 800-meter NCAA Champion, and the indoor and outdoor SEC champions in 2001. While at USC, Allden also coached four student-athletes who earned seven All-American honors.
In 2001, Allden coached three athletes at the World Championships and guided South Carolina’s Otwkile Lekote to a bronze medal in the 800 meters at the World University Games. Lekote ran a SEC best and Botswana national record 1:44.47 in 2001 (ranking him 16th in the world). He also coached Charmaine Howell, who won her third Jamaican National Championship in the 800 meters with a personal best time of 1:59.61 in 2001, ranking her 18th in the world.
In addition to his coaching experience at South Carolina, Allden coached two former Gamecock athletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Howell and Marvin Watts represented their native country of Jamaica in the 800 meters and both reached the semifinals in their first appearance in the Games. Howell earned a silver medal in the 4x400 meter relay.
Before joining the Gamecocks, Allden served as Head Cross Country Coach, Recruiting Coordinator and Interim Head Track Coach at Tulane University from 1994 to 1996. While serving as Interim Head Women’s and Men’s Track Coach from January 1995 to June 1995, the team set nine school records, had seven individual conference champions, 19 All-Conference honors and one NCAA Top-10 finisher - the highest national finish in the history of the program. Allden was also named Louisiana Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1995.
Prior to his time at Tulane, Allden spent five years as the cross country and distance coach at the University of North Carolina - where both his men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the NCAA Championships. The men’s squad was ranked No. 17 in 1996, while the women’s team was No. 8 in 1993.
Allden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University in 1986 in English and History and a Master’s Degree in Sport Administration from the University of Georgia in 1989. A four-year letterman at Emory in track and cross country, he helped Emory win the Division III Southeastern Regional and qualify for the NCAA Championship three consecutive years.
Allden is a USATF Level I and Level II certified endurance instructor. He worked the 1996 Summer Olympics as an Athletic Training Site Supervisor, directing the distance practice track.
Allden will begin a two-year tenure as the president of the Women’s Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches Association (WICCCA) in November of 2001, an organization which he has served as a vice president for the past four years. In 1997-98 he also co-chaired a committee that helped increase the number of participants at the NCAA Championships from 178 to 255. From 1995 to 1997, Allden chaired a committee on redistricting which redrew the district lines and the NCAA Championship formula.
Away from the track, Coach Allden married Tara Disy on July 4, 1998 in Atlanta, GA. The couple has a daughter, Kathleen Rose, born January 1, 2001.
