ERIE — Competing in numerous events while setting plenty of records at Penn State Behrend, Paige Allen has maximized her collegiate track and field career.

Actually, the Butler graduate maximized her collegiate career, period.

“The best way to describe Paige is that she makes an impact in everything she does,” Lions track and field coach Greg Cooper said.

Allen owns 11 PSU Behrend indoor and outdoor track records. She was recently named winner of the Cheryl Ramsdell-Anderson Female Athlete of the Year Award at the school.

“There are 22 sports here and 11 of them are women’s sports,” Allen said. “I feel very honored to receive that, especially when I think of all those other sports.”

Allen’s career can best be summed up by the fact she was asked to make the closing remarks at Behrend’s graduation ceremony this spring.

Besides her track accomplishments, she graduated with a 3.52 grade point average with a degree in project and supply chain management and a minor in management information systems. Allen is moving to Columbus, Ohio, at the end of the month to begin a job as a consultant in technology for a warehouse management group.

A multiple team track MVP, Allen has also been involved in student government, served as an ambassador to the school and was president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

“My main remarks (at the graduation ceremony) were that now that we’re going out on our own, what job we have or how much money we make won’t define us,” Allen said. “Our integrity and honesty will define us.”

Allen has defined nothing but success at Behrend. She helped lead the Lions to a school-record third-place finish at the ECAC Championship meet over the weekend in Massachusetts.

At that meet, she won the 200 meters in a school-record time of 24.39 seconds, finished fourth in the 100 and joined teammates Haley Yenchik, Knoch graduate Ashlynn Carlsson and Rachel Pell in winning the 4x100 relay with a school-record time of 48.39 seconds.

Despite being a sprinter throughout her Butler career, she joined the cross country team in college and ran for three years.

“The numbers on the track and cross country teams here aren’t as big as they were at Butler,” Allen said. “Cross country needed runners, so I joined. It was fun. I helped them win three championships.

“In track, when we needed someone to plug in to an event, I wanted to be ready to help the team.”

She did not run cross country last fall as she had foot surgery in August.

“I was out of commission until October,” Allen said. “I was worried about whether I’d ever get back to the way I was, but I was good to go by the start of indoor season.”

Besides the sprints, Allen has done jumping events at Behrend. She is part of record-setting relay teams there and even set the program’s heptathlon record her sophomore year.

Cooper said Allen could have succeeded in virtually any event she concentrated on.

“She pitched in wherever we needed her and always scored points,” the coach said. “Paige is an extremely talented sprinter who isn’t afraid to dabble in other events.

“That heptathlon record (3,548 points) is up there. That’s going to be hard to break.”

Allen said she is most proud of her 11.92 record time in the 100 meters.

“That was the sixth fastest time in all of Division III last year,” she said. “I was pretty excited about that.”

Allen ran the 100 in 12 seconds at the ECAC meet, 15th fastest time in Division III this season, while trying to secure a spot in the Division III nationals.

“Last year, she competed in one of those last-chance meets at Allegheny College and ran great. It was 75 degrees, a beautiful day,” Cooper said.

“This year at Allegheny, it was 50 degrees and she was running into a head-wind.”

If Allen falls short of a national bid — she’s on the bubble — Cooper said it won’t take away from a “brilliant, well-rounded college career.”

And now that she’s entering the work force, Allen won’t completely say goodbye to track and field.

“I’m definitely planning on coaching high school track, at least,” she said. “I’d love to get into college coaching down the road.”