07-12-2004, 07:42 PM
In the history of Argonia High School, it would be hard to find anyone who put more into school than Jake Allen.
To him, effort was everything.
You could see it in the words he attached to his name on a school weight-room wall last fall:
"The strongest muscle is the heart. It is also the most important. You must play with heart."
"Winning is not my goal. My goal is to play my best, winning is just the outcome."
But less than two months after he graduated as valedictorian, Allen died under unusual circumstances that have sparked rumor after rumor across Sumner County.
A train crew found Allen's body in the darkness early Monday morning a few miles from the farm where he grew up. He had been struck by a train shortly before 3 a.m. on a busy line between Chicago and Los Angeles. His body was found about 10 feet from the Bluff Road crossing, near Milan, in southwestern Sumner County.
Flowers, part of a makeshift memorial, mark the spot.
Evidence at the scene indicated that Allen's body, found unclothed, had been tied to the tracks with baling wire, according to sources who talked to The Eagle and The Associated Press. The sources included railroad and law enforcement officials who asked not to be named.
Sumner County Sheriff Gerald Gilkey would not say whether investigators consider the death to be a homicide. It could take up to eight weeks to obtain complete autopsy results.
To the people around Argonia, the unusual death of such an accomplished, promising young man seemed incomprehensible, jarring.
"Even when you know the details and the truth, it isn't going to make sense," said Sandy Bruce, who first taught Allen when he was a seventh-grader and later coached him in forensics.
The railroad that runs through the Argonia area, about 40 miles southwest of Wichita, has been the scene of tragedies before. There have been terrible accidents.
But in her 18 years in the area, Bruce said, "to my knowledge, there has never been anything like this that affected everybody. I don't think there was anybody who didn't know Jake."
His family declined to talk about Jake but e-mailed information about his activities to The Eagle.
He had an impressive and varied resume at Argonia High: active in football, basketball and track for four years; league honors as an offensive lineman -- playing at 5 feet 11 inches, 185 pounds -- in his senior year; Senior Male Athlete of the Year; Homecoming King; involved in Math Club, Student Council and National Honor Society; active in band and vocal music; state championship semi-finalist in forensics; involved in school plays; officer in KAY Club, a community service organization.
"He was in, I think, every activity in school," said Lyle Volavka, one of the 14 students in Allen's graduating class.
On the Red Raiders football team, Volavka played on the line with Allen. "He was tough," Volavka said. "He loved football. He was the team leader... and got everybody ready for the game."
Over the summer, Allen helped make sure that underclassmen came in for conditioning, said another teammate, Skyler Boatright.
For nourishment for his demanding schedule, Allen kept energy bars in his backpack. "We always used to tease him about it," Boatright said.
Allen was relentless. As a junior, he rehabilitated himself twice after knee surgeries so he could play his senior season, said his coach all four years, Jeff Haslett.
With his tenacity and quickness, Allen made a good pulling guard, clearing paths for runners.
"Anything that Jake did, he did 110 percent," Haslett said, "whether it was math or football practice. He just went all out," inspiring younger kids.
"I think most of these kids are still in shock" over Allen's death, Haslett said. "It just doesn't seem real."
Allen grew up in a large family on a prosperous-looking farm among the sandy back roads between Argonia and Conway Springs.
He fed pigs and did chores on his own farm and helped Bruce's husband put up hay. "That kid was a worker," Bruce said.
He volunteered in a recycling program.
He was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Conway Springs and had attended St. Joseph School when he was younger.
"Jake had a very strong faith in God," Bruce said, "and that faith was the foundation of who he was."
It's not unusual for senior boys to shun freshman boys. But not Allen, Bruce said. "He took those (freshmen) boys everywhere," she said. He considered them his friends and teammates.
He and other boys would go down near the rodeo grounds south of town and swim in the Chikaskia River and not mind the mosquitoes. They went camping and watched movies at each other's houses.
When Allen was in the eighth grade, Bruce said, he tripped and fell, driving a stick into his eye. He lost some sight for a while and endured surgeries.
The experience sparked an interest in optometry, Bruce said. He was going to attend a college in eastern Oklahoma that had an optometry program.
This May, Allen reached the semifinals in the state championship for extemporaneous speaking. It was the first time in at least 13 years that someone from Argonia had advanced that far in the competition, Bruce said.
Allen made himself a talented speaker, she said, because he spoke "very much to the point, and he was very sincere, and he had a very logical thought process, and he could take you through it very clearly."
If there was a criticism, it was that he had a tendency to be a little quiet when he started speaking. It's not easy to speak in front of others in a demanding competition. He could be a little nervous and stiff at first.
Over the years, Bruce saw him become more and more confident and outgoing.
He also acted in a school play, "Mission Possible," a spoof about old television detective shows. Allen, who had a shaved head, convincingly played a retired detective.
Bruce still remembers his inspirational messages, put up on the weight-room wall.
"The strongest muscle is the heart. It is also the most important. You must play with heart."
"Winning is not my goal. My goal is to play my best, winning is just the outcome."
The messages from the young man impressed the 44-year-old forensics coach.
"I never did ask him about them," Bruce said.
"I always meant to."
To him, effort was everything.
You could see it in the words he attached to his name on a school weight-room wall last fall:
"The strongest muscle is the heart. It is also the most important. You must play with heart."
"Winning is not my goal. My goal is to play my best, winning is just the outcome."
But less than two months after he graduated as valedictorian, Allen died under unusual circumstances that have sparked rumor after rumor across Sumner County.
A train crew found Allen's body in the darkness early Monday morning a few miles from the farm where he grew up. He had been struck by a train shortly before 3 a.m. on a busy line between Chicago and Los Angeles. His body was found about 10 feet from the Bluff Road crossing, near Milan, in southwestern Sumner County.
Flowers, part of a makeshift memorial, mark the spot.
Evidence at the scene indicated that Allen's body, found unclothed, had been tied to the tracks with baling wire, according to sources who talked to The Eagle and The Associated Press. The sources included railroad and law enforcement officials who asked not to be named.
Sumner County Sheriff Gerald Gilkey would not say whether investigators consider the death to be a homicide. It could take up to eight weeks to obtain complete autopsy results.
To the people around Argonia, the unusual death of such an accomplished, promising young man seemed incomprehensible, jarring.
"Even when you know the details and the truth, it isn't going to make sense," said Sandy Bruce, who first taught Allen when he was a seventh-grader and later coached him in forensics.
The railroad that runs through the Argonia area, about 40 miles southwest of Wichita, has been the scene of tragedies before. There have been terrible accidents.
But in her 18 years in the area, Bruce said, "to my knowledge, there has never been anything like this that affected everybody. I don't think there was anybody who didn't know Jake."
His family declined to talk about Jake but e-mailed information about his activities to The Eagle.
He had an impressive and varied resume at Argonia High: active in football, basketball and track for four years; league honors as an offensive lineman -- playing at 5 feet 11 inches, 185 pounds -- in his senior year; Senior Male Athlete of the Year; Homecoming King; involved in Math Club, Student Council and National Honor Society; active in band and vocal music; state championship semi-finalist in forensics; involved in school plays; officer in KAY Club, a community service organization.
"He was in, I think, every activity in school," said Lyle Volavka, one of the 14 students in Allen's graduating class.
On the Red Raiders football team, Volavka played on the line with Allen. "He was tough," Volavka said. "He loved football. He was the team leader... and got everybody ready for the game."
Over the summer, Allen helped make sure that underclassmen came in for conditioning, said another teammate, Skyler Boatright.
For nourishment for his demanding schedule, Allen kept energy bars in his backpack. "We always used to tease him about it," Boatright said.
Allen was relentless. As a junior, he rehabilitated himself twice after knee surgeries so he could play his senior season, said his coach all four years, Jeff Haslett.
With his tenacity and quickness, Allen made a good pulling guard, clearing paths for runners.
"Anything that Jake did, he did 110 percent," Haslett said, "whether it was math or football practice. He just went all out," inspiring younger kids.
"I think most of these kids are still in shock" over Allen's death, Haslett said. "It just doesn't seem real."
Allen grew up in a large family on a prosperous-looking farm among the sandy back roads between Argonia and Conway Springs.
He fed pigs and did chores on his own farm and helped Bruce's husband put up hay. "That kid was a worker," Bruce said.
He volunteered in a recycling program.
He was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Conway Springs and had attended St. Joseph School when he was younger.
"Jake had a very strong faith in God," Bruce said, "and that faith was the foundation of who he was."
It's not unusual for senior boys to shun freshman boys. But not Allen, Bruce said. "He took those (freshmen) boys everywhere," she said. He considered them his friends and teammates.
He and other boys would go down near the rodeo grounds south of town and swim in the Chikaskia River and not mind the mosquitoes. They went camping and watched movies at each other's houses.
When Allen was in the eighth grade, Bruce said, he tripped and fell, driving a stick into his eye. He lost some sight for a while and endured surgeries.
The experience sparked an interest in optometry, Bruce said. He was going to attend a college in eastern Oklahoma that had an optometry program.
This May, Allen reached the semifinals in the state championship for extemporaneous speaking. It was the first time in at least 13 years that someone from Argonia had advanced that far in the competition, Bruce said.
Allen made himself a talented speaker, she said, because he spoke "very much to the point, and he was very sincere, and he had a very logical thought process, and he could take you through it very clearly."
If there was a criticism, it was that he had a tendency to be a little quiet when he started speaking. It's not easy to speak in front of others in a demanding competition. He could be a little nervous and stiff at first.
Over the years, Bruce saw him become more and more confident and outgoing.
He also acted in a school play, "Mission Possible," a spoof about old television detective shows. Allen, who had a shaved head, convincingly played a retired detective.
Bruce still remembers his inspirational messages, put up on the weight-room wall.
"The strongest muscle is the heart. It is also the most important. You must play with heart."
"Winning is not my goal. My goal is to play my best, winning is just the outcome."
The messages from the young man impressed the 44-year-old forensics coach.
"I never did ask him about them," Bruce said.
"I always meant to."
