By Spencer Anderson

WSU track captain CJ Allen is a busy man. His days are filled with workouts and training, as well as classes and other educational endeavors. He doesn't find much down time for personal activities, and leisure time is scare.

“If I do ever find any of that time, I'm probably on my couch or somewhere relaxing because it's just always on the go, on the go, on the go,” Allen said. “Whether it's going to the movies with friends or something else, when I do have time to myself or time away from everything, I just try to find something that's relaxing.”

Sometimes that means hanging out with some of the other student-athletes at WSU. Allen said he's really close with his old roommate Grayson Anderson, and often spends time with Dino Dodig, Ja'Maun Charles, and Keelan Halligan.

Being close with his teammates is very important to Allen, and it's one of the many reasons why they look up to him. As a captain in just his junior year, he was four votes off from being a captain last year as a sophomore.

“I'm always going to give my all and just grind and love all my teammates as family,” Allen said. “I don't know if it's inspiring to people, but I know that I'm out there to perform and give my all, 100 percent. And that goes off the track, too. I want to give my teammates my time and I want to support them, and just be an overall well-rounded teammate for everybody else on the team.”

As part of becoming a well-rounded individual, Allen is pursuing a degree in kinesiology, with an eye toward becoming a physical therapist. Originally thinking about an education in engineering, he decided that major wasn't for him and switched because kinesiology worked better with track.

Allen describes his relationship with his family as really good. His younger brother, Corey, currently serves in the Marine Corps reserves and has an opportunity to walk on at WSU next year as a sprinter. Meanwhile, his parents, Jeff and Amy, have missed just one track meet in his entire career.

“They've always been super supportive of me and push me in everything,” Allen said. “I swear my mom still calls me once a week, but that's ok.”

The location of the university helped in his decision to come to WSU, as his parents, living in Allyn, Wash. would be able to come to Pullman for the home meets. Recruited by Mark Macdonald (who now serves as trainer for Cougar alum Jeshua Anderson ahead of the 2016 Olympic Trials), Allen signed within the first 30 minutes of signing day and wouldn't change anything.

“Once I got here, I fell in love with it,” Allen said. “It was such a family feel; there's such a good environment here. I felt like I was still at home. I didn't want to be at a place where I didn't feel like maybe I was accepted. After I came here, I cancelled my other official visits because I was already certain that I didn't want to go anywhere else.”

Though there have been plenty of accomplishments for Allen on the track – highlighted by his victory in the 400m hurdles during the Pac-12 Championships his freshman year – he still fights to improve all the time. Part of that is because he doesn't want to take his abilities for granted, and he knows that his teammates look to him as an example.

“I want to do this because I feel like I've been given this talent because of something outside of myself,” Allen said. “It's a gift that has been given to me by the grace of God. I feel like I'm no longer working towards stuff for myself, but rather using the gift that I've been given to the fullest extent.

“(To be a great athlete,) you have to have the three components. You have to have the mindset, you have to be physical. But I feel like there's also a spiritual side to it. Being deeply rooted in that has definitely helped me to understand and to be just an overall better person.”