PHILADELPHIA — Eagles hopeful Devon Allen did not waste any time Saturday endearing himself to the fans of Philadelphia at venerable Franklin Field.
Allen pumped up the crowd after winning the Olympic Development men’s 110-meter hurdles championship in a meet-record time of 13.11 seconds at the Penn Relays.
“This is like my coming out party in Philadelphia as an athlete,” Allen said. “I haven’t played my first game yet but I went to the Sixers game on Monday, the playoff game. I saw the first half and I saw first-hand the swings of the fans so if I can get in their good graces from the start that will be good for my career.”
The two-time Olympian, who recently signed with the Eagles as a free-agent wide receiver, certainly endeared himself to the track fans in the city. He outdueled Omar McLeod of Jamaica to win his first Penn Relays watch with the best time in the world this season and break the mark of 13.32 set by Reggie Torian in 1998.
“A really good, great race, maybe not there technically but my footspeed was there,” Allen said. “Being aggressive was probably one of the most important things a hurdler can be. That was there. I switched to seven steps indoors, probably about two or three weeks before USAs. That may have been a little bit overzealous for indoors but since then I’ve had about 8-10 weeks of practice and as you can see I’ve kind of gotten it down now. I think that was something I needed to do to take it down to 12.9, 12.8. I’ve been able to run two races in April. It feels good.”
Allen played football and ran track at Oregon but decided to concentrate on track after being a dual-sport athlete for three years with the Ducks. But he decided to give football another try this year after a six-year hiatus.
“I kind of felt a little bit antsy without it the last four or five years, just doing track. In the offseason I was like, ‘What am I doing?’” Allen said. “Obviously I’m training, but my whole life I’ve been back-and-forth, back-and-forth. It’s good to be back doing what I love with football. I love being with the team. I’m just enjoying myself.”
McLeod had a little fun with Allen’s return to football.
“I want to let everyone know that I’ve signed with the Cowboys,” McLeod said.
Allen got a kick out of McLeod’s comment and his day with the fans at Franklin Field, which long ago was the home of the Eagles.
“I think today was awesome,” Allen said. “I think it was the best atmosphere I’ve been in for a track and field meet since the Olympic trials. Philly has been great for the last week. I’ve been here since Monday with OTAs all week with the football team. I’ve been walking around the city and people have been saying ‘What’s up,’ to me. I’m glad to be here.”
• • •
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin enjoyed her first trip to Penn since turning professional. She was a senior in at Union Catholic (N.J.) in 2017 the last time she ran at the Penn Relays.
“I remember watching amazing pros run here when I was in high school and aspiring to be like them,” McLaughlin said. “And now to be in a position to inspire the next generation of runners was just really cool.”
McLaughlin took the lead early in the Olympic Development 100-meter hurdles and cruised to victory in a meet-record time of 12.75 seconds. She broke the mark of 12.86 set by Virginia Powell in 2007.
“Today was about seeing where we’re at and gauge moving forward,” McLaughlin said.
Fellow New Jersey native and two-time Olympic gold medal winner Athing Mu also gave the crowd a thrill in her first Penn Relays appearance. Mu easily won the Olympic Development 600-meter run in 1:22.74, the fourth-fastest time in world history.
• • •
The Villanova men and women came up short in their respective bids to add to their collections of Penn Relays wheels.
The men finished fifth in the 4 x mile Championship of America while the women were fourth in the 4 x 800 Championship of America.
Texas overcame a fall on the first leg to win a tightly contested 4 x mile with a time of 16:17.45. Villanova (Josh Phillips, Charlie O’Donovan, Sean Donoghue, Sean Dolan) crossed the finish line in 16:18.38. The top five teams finished within a second of each other.
“The first leg was slow,” O’Donovan said. “It was a bit of a chess match.”
Dolan got the baton in second place and got bumped during his leg.
“That’s part of the sport; I did my best to keep my head down and keep running,” Dolan said. “I’ve got a couple of scars there but I just tried to stay on my feet.”
Dolan made his move with about 170 meters to go. In hindsight he said he should have waited a little longer.
“It was a dogfight at the end,” Dolan said. “All those guys started really rolling. I think I played my cards a second or two too early. Some good guys got around me and I tried to hang on.”
Keegan ran a solid anchor in the 4 x 800, but it wasn’t enough to catch Penn State, Ohio State and BYU in her final Penn Relays in a Villanova uniform.
“I was trying not to think about how this was my last one because I didn’t want any of that emotion to take away from the current race I was in,” Keegan said. “When I crossed the finish line I looked around and took a look at the crowd.”
• • •
The Forbes sisters, Maddie, Grace and Maggie, had to come back home to run together in the same race since they were in grammar school.
Running for Rice University, the Strath Haven grads ran the first three legs of the Owls’ team that finished eighth in the college women’s 4 x 800.
“It was really fun,” said Maddie, the oldest of the three. “I’m glad our coach let us do it.”
The team did not have the result it wanted. Grace Forbes was knocked down on her leg and that knocked the Owls out of contention but the trip to Philadelphia wasn’t a total loss. Grace Forbes won the college women’s 10,000-meter run Thursday night.
“I was happy to do that,” Grace Forbes said.
Teammate Taigen Hunter-Galvan, who ran the anchor leg for the Owls, joined in the fun. She dyed part of her hair red to match the hair color of the Forbes sisters.
“It had to be done,” Hunter-Galvan said. “Look at them. It was the only way I could fit in.”
