News Photo by James Andersen Alpena High School senior Elijah Allen, center, signs his Letter of Intent to join the Alpena Community College cross country team on Wednesday. Allen is pictured with ACC cross country coach Mark Jacobs, left, and his father Tim.

ALPENA — Recruiting for the Alpena Community College cross country team took a big step forward on Friday.

The Lumberjacks — who have multiple runners returning next season and several commitments for next season — gained another one Friday when Alpena High School senior Elijah Allen signed his Letter of Intent with ACC.

“I feel pretty good actually,” Allen said. “I’m excited to run for college with the different races, different people, against other colleges…just pretty much excited right now.”

Allen is coming off a stellar cross country season where he was the Wildcats’ top runner. His senior season included one win, seven top-10 finishes and competing in the Division 1 state finals. He also competed in the MITA-Michigan Meet of Champions, where he set a PR of 16:26.9.

Allen’s desire to stay close to home and ACC coach Mark Jacobs’ search for hard-working, talented, high character runners made ACC’s program a perfect fit.

“He’s a game changer for us,” Jacobs said. “We just actually went to the next level by him signing. I’ve got four of my top six returners (coming). I’ve got three commitments, actually four commitments for next year and I have a visit next week with another runner. So we’re in an outstanding spot for a great year next year.”

Allen, who plans on studying business and marketing, hopes to have a strong track season before he joins ACC in the fall.

Last year as a junior, he was Alpena’s top hurdler and won the Big North Conference title in the 300 hurdles. He also qualified for the Division 1 state finals and set a new PR in the event.

Now, a year more experienced, Allen has his sights set on leaving his mark in program history. With a competitive schedule that could include the 300 hurdles, 800 run and 1,600 run, Allen hopes to set the program’s 300 hurdles record before he graduates.

The current mark of 40.1 seconds was set by Bill Richard in 1982.

With his work ethic and natural talent, Jacobs believes it won’t take long for Allen to establish himself as one of ACC’s top runners.

“Yes, believe me, we got lucky,” Jacobs said. “He’s an extremely talented kid, he does not take things for granted. He does not take running for granted. There’s a lot of athletes who are extremely talented that don’t work hard; athletes who work very hard; and then there’s talented athletes who work hard and he’s one of those, he’s a talented athlete.”