Football

June 20, 2007

Former Tiger All-American Dustin Allen to Compete in World Championships

Trinity University Tigers senior defensive lineman Dustin Allen of Friendswood (Friendswood) has been selected to play on the United States team at the World Championship of American Football next month in Japan.

The 5-foot-9, 226-pound Allen will be a member of the team which takes on Korea July 10 at Kawasaki, Japan. The American squad, managed by USA Football, then meets Germany on July 12. The tournament is broken down into two, three-team sections as France, Japan and Sweden will fill out the opposing bracket. The championship game is scheduled for July 15 in Kawasaki.

It will mark the first appearance by the United States at the tournament, which has been held every four years since 1999. Japan captured both team titles, including a 34-14 victory over Mexico in 2003 in Germany.

The head coach of the U.S. team is former University of Texas and University of Arizona coach John Mackovic. A total of 45 schools from NCAA Division I, II and III will be represented. A training camp is being held through July 4 in California.

Allen, who will receive the bachelor’s degree from Trinity next December, is no stranger to international competition. Last December, Allen played with a group of Division III all-stars at the Aztec Bowl in Mexico. The U.S. team beat Mexico 28-7 and Allen recorded three tackles, including a quarterback sack.

The talented Allen received a number of honors while competing for the Tigers. He was selected late last year for the D3football.com All-America Third Team and to the All-South Region First Team. Allen was also elected to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) First Team for the third straight year. In 2005, Allen made the D3football.com All-America Honorable Mention Team.

Allen completed the 2006 season with 51 tackles, including 11 solo. He accounted for 5.5 tackles for a loss of 21 yards, three sacks (16 yards), four quarterback hurries, one recovered fumble and one forced fumble.

Trinity, led by head coach Steve Mohr, finished the campaign with an 8-2 record. The Tigers were SCAC runners-up with a 5-1 mark.