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The Tri-Valley League champion.

The MIAA Division 4 Meet champion.

The MIAA All-State Meet champion.

The New England champion.

All because she turned in her first baseman's mitt. Well, sort of.

She finished her freshman season as a member of the state championship softball team. Then she concluded her career as a Norton High Lancer as a New England champion.

What a pair of bookends, what a career, as a student and as an athlete Kelly Allen has placed on the mantel.

"I had coaches who never gave up on me," beamed the Tufts University-bound, senior who promenaded herself, the school and the community into the spotlight in sweeping the postseason events with a discus in her hands.

There is absolutely none better than Allen, who will participate at the NIKE National Interscholastic Meet next weekend in Greensboro, N.C.

Think about this - Allen is not even using her entire 5-foot-11 frame. She's only executing the motion of putting the discus into the air with a half-spin, contrary to the full-spin to which most of her competitors adhere and what she will be adopting to at the collegiate level.

Think about this - Allen's school record discus throw of 140-feet, 7-inches, taken at the MIAA State Meet last weekend at Fitchburg State College - is the best throw in New England this season by more than eight feet; and that throw is already better than the current record at Tufts.

Think about this too - Allen ranks in the top five of the graduating class at NHS and received an early admission acceptance letter from Tufts, where she will

pursue studies in chemistry.

"She's a gifted individual, a gifted athlete, one of the most competitive people I've ever met," related Kent Taylor, the Norton High track coach of Allen, who has groomed her discus success with the aide of assistant and throwing coach Mike Brito. Allen ventured to Vermont over the weekend and won the New England Meet title (at 132-7). Prior to winning the MIAA All-State Meet, Allen won the MIAA Division 4 Meet with a throw of 133-7 and won the TVL Meet title with a record-shattering 140-2 throw.

Not only is Allen the best discus thrower in New England, she's one of the top 10 shot putters - having placed seventh place at the MIAA Meet (37-7), won the MIAA Division 4 Meet (38-43/4), took second at the TVL Meet (35-81/4) and was eighth in New England (37-7).

"I don't regret my decision at all," said Allen of stepping away from the Norton High softball diamond, where she started at first base for a Lancer team which featured her sister Stacey (currently at MIT). In truth, because Allen so admired her elder sister's courageousness. "Watching her pitch and the mental toughness that she had, when everyone (opposing hitter) were trying to get to her - I wanted the same."

Also a member of the Norton High volleyball team, Allen competed in winter track as a freshman, putting the shot at 31-feet or so. "It seemed that I was happier throwing the shot put, than throwing a softball," said Allen. So in the spring of her sophomore year, she began throwing the discus and the javelin.

"At first, it was really hard for me to get my release down," Allen said of the discus. "I didn't throw the javelin really well at all, it's an odd motion for me." The tape measured out at around 80 feet when she first began understanding the mechanics of throwing the discus, but by season's end she was up to 112 feet.

"It's more legs than arms," Allen said of the key to proper form. "A shot putter can force things, but with the discus you have to get the technique down. The coaches had confidence in me, when I didn't. Maybe that's why track became my passion."

What Allen also discovered was that the full-spin motion of throwing the discus actually neutralized some of her natural strength and power. "I tried a full spin and the results were not as good - it takes more movement," said Allen. "If I did the full spin correctly, I'd probably be out there at least 150-feet," said Allen. Even with the shot put, "I used to spin, but that technique fell apart for me. Then I started gliding again."

According to Taylor, part of Allen adopting the South African-style half-spin is because she was doing the full spin with the shot put and also because she has big hands and big feet. "To think that all the other girls are doing a full spin and she's doing a half-spin and throwing 140-feet is absurd," said Taylor, thinking that Allen could add 20 feet or so. "She's the real deal and she's one of the most charismatic people that you'll meet too."

Allen prefers the 180-degree motion of unleashing the discus into the air, ever-improving her first step. At next weekend's national meet she will be ranked in the top 25-30, but well behind girls who have adopted the full-spin routine and are out at 160-feet-plus.

Weight training has been a factor too, much of her success in the shot put owing to the brute power of unleashing the ball. "I don't practice it (shot put) much at all and I was consistently throwing 35-36 feet," said Allen. "With the discus, you can practice your technique without throwing, you can save your arm and leg strength. With the shot put, you can definitely have a lot of success by being just strong. With the discus, it's more about technique."

When Allen arrived in Fitchburg for the MIAA State Meet, she won the discus event with her very first throw "I didn't see it land!" she beamed. "Everything felt right.

"At the New England Meet, though, it was not a great day for anyone," said Allen, who won on her fifth throw, her only throw of 130-feet or better. "The dynamics are so much different at the big meets, I have control over my throws."

Similarly, she controls her life, skipping out on last Friday night's graduation party to get her rest for the MIAA Meet. "I thought about it (attending the party), thinking that I could still get six or seven hours of sleep.

"But, then if I didn't do well, I'd be thinking it was because I did something that maybe I shouldn't have, that I wouldn't be prepared. It's an opportunity of a lifetime to become a state champion."

In the meantime, Taylor holds her in such in high esteem, knowing that she is almost a once-in-a-lifetime student-athlete to have the pleasure of coaching. "She wants to be the best, that's why she is the best."

PETER GOBIS can be contacted at 508-236-0375 or via e-mail at pgobis@thesunchronicle.com