A freshman won four events at state. See what’s next for budding high school sprinter.

Alexandra Allen’s winning formula is built upon excelling at the most basic aspects of running. As she stands at the starting line, the Kentucky high school freshman is purely focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

“I still need to lift my knees,” she said. “Relax and breathe through.”

Allen’s focus on such simplistic techniques has led to her early success and offered her a potential future as one of the commonwealth’s next major track and field stars.

Allen, a freshman at DuPont Manual High School in Louisville, won four events at this month’s state track and field championships at the University of Kentucky.

Competing against the state’s largest schools in Class 3A, Allen won the 100 meters, the 200 and the 400 in a sterling sweep of the meet’s sprint events. She also was part of Manual’s championship 4-by-400-meter relay.

Scoring 10 points for each of her event victories, that meant Allen — remember, just a freshman — contributed to the generation of 40 of Manual’s 117 points. As a result, the Crimsons won their second consecutive team state championship.

“She understood that she was running for a lot more than just herself,” Manual head coach Zacharie Brooks said last week. “I thought that was phenomenal.

“You don’t usually find a 14-year-old who has that mindset of, ‘I’m going to run. And I understand that it’s not just about me,’” he added. “She literally put the team on her back.”

On that day, June 4, Allen single-handedly outscored every other team in the field outside of second-place West Jessamine, which had 61 points. Eastern High School was third with 39 points.

How dominant was Manual’s 14-year-old phenom? She was the only freshman in Class 3A, boys or girls, to win more than one individual event. Only three other freshmen, boys or girls, won any individual events at all that day.

Allen ran the 100 meters in 12.18 seconds, about a half-second off the 3A state meet record. Her 200 time of 24.98 was 0.89 seconds behind the record. Allen covered the 400 meters in :56.73. In all three races, Allen narrowly defeated teammate Ruby Nwosu, a senior.

Allen ran all four of her races within a 3½-hour window, with the 100 at 10:10 a.m, the 400 at 11:45 a.m., the 200 at 12:50 p.m. and the 4-by-400 at 1:40 p.m.

“I’ve never felt better,” Allen said after her performance. “Not even (compared to) last year when I won. Because last year I didn’t (perform as well as) I wanted.”

As an eighth-grader at Louisville Collegiate, Allen placed second in the 100 meters at the KTCCA Middle School State Championship with a time of 12.58 seconds. She was also second in the 200 but won the 400.

Allen’s rapid success has created a foundation on which she can build, her coach said.

“Her work ethic is phenomenal,” Brooks said. “She’s coachable. She’s so smart that the coaching comes easy to her. She’s able to correct and adjust. But her speed is God-given.”

Even though Manual’s freshman star is basking in her victories, she is already looking forward to the rest of her high school career.

“I have already set our school record at (the) 100,” Allen said. “I’m looking to break (that), get even better and then maybe junior or senior year break the state record.”

The state meet record in the 100 meters for Class 3A girls is :11.69, set by Rosalynd Hollingsworth of Tates Creek in 2019. Even though Allen has her goals set out for her, Brooks wants his star athlete to enjoy what she’s doing.

“I just hope to see her continuing to have fun, enjoying the sport and achieving all the goals that she set out for herself. I know she can and has the work ethic to do it, but I just want her to be happy while she’s doing it.”