Bobby Van Allen enters his ninth season as the head coach of the Johns Hopkins men's and women's track and field and cross-country teams as the 2007-2008 season commences. Van Allen continues his drive to help his teams reach the top of the Centennial Conference.

Van Allen came to Hopkins in January 1999, hired as an assistant coach for the women's distance runners. He was promoted to the head coach in the fall of 1999 and since that point, has increased the size of the teams from 30 athletes to approximately 115 athletes. In July of 2002 he was promoted to a full-time position as the head coach, the first full-time track and field coach at Johns Hopkins. In the fall of 2006, Van Allen led the women's cross-country team to the highest conference (3rd) and regional (5th) finish in school history. During the 2005 season, he guided the men's outdoor track and field team to its highest ever finish at the conference championship, scoring 99.5 points in the meet and finishing fourth.

Van Allen's coaching career began in the fall of 1998 when he served as a volunteer assistant with the cross-country team at Maryland. From there he moved to Hopkins, where, after serving as an assistant coach for the track and field team, he took over as the head coach for the cross-country teams. During his first seven years at Hopkins, he has coached nine NCAA qualifiers and has seen over 60 school records fall.

Van Allen graduated from the University of Maryland in 1998 with a degree in kinesiological sciences with a bio-physical option. While at Maryland he competed for both the cross-country and track and field teams. For the Terrapins, Van Allen earned All-East Cross-Country honors and was a finalist at the ACC Championships in the 1500m.

Van Allen holds a Level I coaching certificate and a coaches diploma from USTCA Track and Field.