Athletes

As a freshman at Florida State University (FSU) this past year (2005-2006), on a full athletic scholarship as a track and field athlete, Tori Allen has already shown her dominance in both rock climbing and pole vaulting. Allen won her first pole vault competition of the season at the Golden Twilight Invitational, clearing with a meet-best height of 11' 11.75". Her successes this past season qualified her for the list of top five all-time Seminoles pole vaulters. Although Allen was born in Auburn, Ala., she was raised in Benin, Africa, where she learned how to climb with the monkeys. In 2004 she placed first at the National Youth Athletics track meet and also won the speed climbing event at the Teva Mountain Games. At 13, Allen became the adult women's champion in all four categories of climbing - speed, bouldering, dyno and difficulty - a feat no other climber has achieved in the history of the sport. Not satisfied with dominating only one sport, she was also a member of the 2003 U.S. National Junior Track and Field Team and was the second-ranked pole vaulter in the United States in the 17-and-under division. At the 2003 Youth World Championships in Quebec, Canada, Allen finished in 10th place in the pole vault and was the top American in the rankings. Also in 2003, Allen placed first at the youth nationals, which qualified her for the U.S. track and field team. Allen was the only U.S. female climber invited to compete at the 2002 ESPN Summer X Games, which is the equivalent of the Olympic Games for extreme athletes. The Indianapolis native, and the only American entry in her category, the then 14-year-old not only took gold in her first X Games appearance in the speed climb competition in August of 2002, but also shattered the record set at the 2001 Games by nearly four seconds. In 2002, she smashed the previous competition record at the 2002 Junior Olympics in Lincoln, Neb., capturing the pole vaulting championship. She was the youngest woman to reach the summit of The Nose, El Capitan, Yosemite, Calif., in 2001 and set a world record on the climb. She is currently featured in the Women's Sports Foundation book "SuperWomen: 100 Women-100 Sports." Since rock climbing is not included in the Olympic Games, Allen started training for the 2008 Olympic Games in pole vaulting. Allen also has positioned herself as a humanitarian when she established a program called FREAK, which stands for: I am a Female athlete who Respects my competitors, Encourages newcomers, applauds every effort and Keeps my sport in perspective. She has also written a motivational book called "Life Rocks," in which she inspires and challenges young people to make good decisions in their lives and especially to be active in their lives. In 2005, Allen received the Cosmo Girl Born To Lead Award for creating a sportsmanship program. (10/06)