The achievements she’s already had shine so brightly, it’s hard to imagine there are even more to come for recent Norwich Free Academy graduate Allyson Lewis.

Lewis, though, has already left for her next venture as a scholarship athlete at Division I Penn State University. She left on June 22, 10 days after graduation, to begin the summer session, in search of reaching her goal of 5 feet, 10 inches — and beyond — in the high jump. She has an idea that she may compete in the pentathlon there.

“She’s going to get faster. She’s going to get stronger. She’s going to have access to some of the best coaches in the country,” said NFA boys’ track coach Tom Teixeira, who also guided Lewis in the jumps. “She’s very versatile. She’s very athletic. She never stopped getting better. I think she’ll continue to do that.”

Lewis, earning the distinction for the second straight season, was named The Day’s 2019 All-Area Girls’ Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

She was also recently named as a Class LL first team all-state selection and as the 2019 Connecticut High School Coaches’ Association Girls’ Field Athlete of the Year. She was named the Most Valuable Senior of NFA’s girls’ track team and earned the Shearer-Curtis Cup, presented annually to the school’s outstanding senior girl athlete based on athletic achievement, leadership, commitment and integrity.

Those are a few of the testaments to what Lewis has already accomplished.

This year’s Eastern Connecticut Conference championship meet was among Lewis’ favorite high school memories. She tied the meet record in her best event, the high jump, at 5-8, but also finished first in the long jump with a meet and school record 19-1.5 and first in the 200 meters with a time of 25.74 seconds for a 30-point overall performance.

“I think it was one of my best meets I’ve ever had,” Lewis said. “It was a busy and tiring day, but I was happy that I could stay healthy throughout the whole meet and pull through to help my team win the title.”

Another highlight from this spring, this one which makes her chuckle a little bit: She finished tied for seventh in the championship flight of the high jump at the New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., with a season best 5-8.75 — one place away from being named All-American.

Teixeira, though, wasn’t able to attend the meet. He’s the one who usually watches film of Lewis’ jumps during the meet and provides input — competitors aren’t allowed to watch film of themselves during competition. So he gave some notes to Lewis’ mom and sister Anna.

“There are some smaller things you can change in an event, things you can do,” Teixeira said. “I told them, ‘If you see this, do this. If you see that, do that.’ Ally is pretty on top of it. She can coach herself.”

One more thing Lewis will remember from high school: two of her best friends, juniors Paige and Madison Martin shared the journey with her. Paige Martin was the State Open pole vault champion indoors with a meet record 12-0.5 and also captured the Open title outdoors, while Madison was fourth.

“It’s going to be weird not seeing them 24/7,” Lewis said. “When we had difficult workouts, we’d all push each other and motivate each other to keep going because it was only going to make us better. When we’re together, we’re always laughing and having a good time and I’m going to miss that a lot.”

Following the ECC meet, Lewis won the Class LL championship in the high jump (5-6) and long jump (18-10.25) and finished fourth in the 200 (26.03). She took the high jump (5-8) and was third in the long jump (18-5.75) at the State Open and was second in the high jump (5-7) and 10th in the long jump (17-3.25) at the New England meet.

Now, she moves to the next phase. She initially reached out to Penn State herself in the fall, filling out an online questionnaire.

“The jumps coach (Fritz Spence) got back to me and set up my visit in December so I could see a track meet,” said Lewis, who plans to major in criminology. “Right when I got there, I fell in love with the campus. I got such a good and welcoming family vibe from the team and coaches and they also have beautiful indoor and outdoor track facilities. I knew it was the place for me.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com

The Day's 2019 All-Area Girls' Track & Field Team

Player

of

the

Year - Allyson Lewis (NFA)

100 meters - Gwen Anderson (Stonington) 

400 - Katherine Harris (East Lyme)

800 - Kayla Park (NFA)

1,600 - Mady Whittaker (Montville)

3,200 - Brigid Kunka (St. Bernard)

100 hurdles, 300 hurdles - Darya Mikusova (East Lyme)

4x100 relay - Fitch (Amara Robinson, Janaya Burley, Abby Rogers, Mary Rose Victorino)

4x400 relay - East Lyme (Brianna Am Ende, Saige Deveau, Katherine Harris, Darya Mikusova)

4x800 relay - Stonington (Keegan Donahue, Lindsey Orr, Emma Small, Jessica Detwiler)

Pole vault, triple jump - Paige Martin (NFA)

Shot put - Marissa Parker (New London)

Discus - Jenny Alarcon (Montville)

Javelin - Eliza Brown (New London)

Utility - Madison Martin (NFA), Lauren Ross (Montville)