Tulare Union star Kazmeir Allen picks up big award before he heads off to UCLA

Former Tulare Union High star Kazmeir Allen was named Cal-HI Sports’ State Athlete of the Year on Wednesday.

The UCLA football recruit the first boy from Tulare to win the yearly award since Bob Mathias did it in 1948 just a few months before he won the Olympic decathlon.

The last Central Section player to earn the award was Nick Nevills of Clovis in 2013-14 (football, wrestling).

Allen excelled in two sports. In football, he led the Tribe to a Central Section Division II championship and set a national season record with 72 touchdowns. In track and field, he won the state 100-meter sprint championship at Buchanan’s Veterans Memorial Stadium in June.

His shining moment in football came in the Tribe’s 49-21 victory over Dinuba for the section championship. Allen rushed 17 times for 251 yards and four touchdowns.

He finished the season with 3,336 rushing yards and 62 rushing touchdowns, to go along with 833 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. He also had a kickoff return for a touchdown.

At the state track meet, Allen clocked in 10.44 seconds to become the first Central Section sprinter to win the 100 since Marques Holiwell of West-Bakersfield in 1995.