Elizabeth “Liz” Allen enters her second season as Assistant Sprints Coach for VCU Track & Field in 2023-24. Allen brings a wealth of coaching knowledge to the program, with USA Track & Field (USATF) Level I and II coaching certifications.
During Allen's first season at VCU in 2022-23, the sprinters played a key role in the Rams' success as a team. With Allen's instruction, Lauryn Taylor established herself as the best sprinter in the Atlantic 10 Conference, winning the 60m and 200m titles at the A-10 Indoor Championships, followed by victories at the 100m and 200m at A-10 Outdoor, laying claim to the Most Outstanding Track Performer Award at both meets. Allen also helped develop Kayelyn Tate into an A-10 All-Rookie standout, finishing second behind Taylor in the 60m at A-10 Indoors as well as the 100m at A-10 Outdoors.
Prior to arriving in Richmond, Allen’s most recent coaching stop was at Allen High School in Allen, Texas as the Head Girls Track & Field Coach from 2015-2022. Under her leadership, the Eagles experienced a great deal of success, including three district championships, two area championships, and a 6A Region II runner-up finish in 2019. Overall, 53 Allen High School athletes qualified for the 6A University Interscholastic League (UIL) Region II Championships, and 10 of them were finalists in the UIL 6A State Meet. Thirty-two athletes signed national letters of intent to compete in college, and they set Allen High School records in nine different events.
During the 2014-2015 season, Allen worked as an Assistant Coach at North Texas, with an emphasis on the development of the team’s sprints, hurdles, and relay event groups. During her one year at North Texas, Allen’s athletes represented the Mean Green at the NCAA Division I West Preliminary Meet in the 100, 200, and 4x400, and two of her athletes achieved All-Conference USA honors.
Allen’s first collegiate coaching position came as an Assistant Track & Field Coach at Tennessee State in Nashville from 2011-2014, overseeing the sprints, hurdles, relays, and multis event groups. During her tenure, the Tennessee State women captured the 2014 Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Championship. In addition to team success, many of Allen’s athletes garnered individual accolades, most notably Clairwin Dameus, who qualified for the NCAA Division I National Championship in the heptathlon, and Amber Hughes, who claimed OVC Indoor/Outdoor Female Freshman of the Year honors in 2014. Overall, Allen’s athletes achieved 12 OVC championship performances and set OVC records in the 4x400-meter and 4x100-meter relays for the Tigers.
Before her time as a college coach, Allen served as an Athletic Director Intern/Athletic Coach at the University School of Nashville and worked in Belmont University’s compliance department, all while completing her graduate coursework at Belmont. Allen’s coaching stint at the University School of Nashville was a successful one. Overall, Allen coached Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) State Champions in the 200, 400, 800, and long jump as well as TSSAA State Championship Meet qualifiers in the 300-meter hurdles, 4x800, shot put, and 4x400. Allen earned her Master of Sport Administration from Belmont in 2011.
As a collegiate student-athlete, Allen (formerly Pollock) competed from 2005-2009 at Belmont, where she distinguished herself as a standout track & field performer for the Bruins. At the conference level, Allen won Atlantic Sun Conference championships in the 4x400, 4x100, and the 400-meter hurdles and qualified for the NCAA Division I Midwest Regional Preliminary meet in those three events. Allen set—and still holds—Belmont school records in the 400 hurdles, 60-meter hurdles, 55-meter hurdles, 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400 (indoors and outdoors). Allen graduated from Belmont in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science.
