Devon Allen gets third in 110 hurdles and a world championship berth...
EUGENE--Former Renton resident and two-time US Olympian Devon Allen (right/TrackTown USA photo) did just enough to make yet another world championship team on the final day of competition at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships at Historic Hayward Field on a hot afternoon in the Willamette Valley.
As a safety precaution aimed primarily towards athletes competing in the 800s, 5000s and the women's steeplechase, the meet's time schedule was shifted around due to the expected heat.
Allen finished second in the second of two semifinal races, running 13.14, behind NCAA champion Trey Cunningham of Florida State who ran 13.09.
Less than two hours later, Allen, who drew lane 4 for the finals, didn't get a strong start, as he was sixth to the first hurdle.
Through the first four hurdles, the Oregon alum, running in front of the home fans who cheered him on to two Olympic teams and some NCAA titles, was between third and fifth, before making his late race charge over the final six hurdles.
And that charge was good enough to hang on to third place and the final spot on the world championship team.
Daniel Roberts, who like Allen was a Tokyo Olympian, took the victory in 13.03, with Cunningham second at 13.08. Allen got the third spot in 13.09, the same time as fourth place finisher Jamal Britt, with the cameras showing Allen getting to the line ahead of Britt by a 13.087 to 13.090 advantage.
Allen was impressed by the quality of the field, noting that even without defending world champion Grant Holloway, who skipped the final after winning the semis in 13.03, there were four runners who ran under 13.10.
"I'm just glad to have competed well and made the team. I've got 20 days to clean some stuff up and get ready for worlds."
"I'm still trying to perfect my start," he told reporters in the mixed zone, noting that he's running fast, but has had the tendency to get twisted up coming off the hurdles instead of touching down squarely.
Courtesy of NBC Sports, here is Allen's race:
Washington State alum CJ Allen ran a personal best 48.17 to finish fourth in the finals of the 400 hurdles. Allen will be the alternate on the world championship team if either winner Rai Benjamin (47.04), Trevor Bassitt (47.47), or Khallifah Rosser (47.65) cannot compete.
Washington alum Katie Rainsberger ran a personal best 9:29.77 to finish fifth in the 3000 steeplechase, while Yale's Kayley DeLay, the NCAA runner up who will use her final season of eligibility at the University of Washington this fall as a grad transfer, was tenth in 9:46.91.
For the third time in the meet, Olympia native Brooke Feldmeier set another personal best in the 800 meters, as she ran 1:59.08 to finish sixth, as Olympic champ Athing Mu was pressed by Ajee Wilson before winning in 1:57.16 to 1:57.23.
For the first time since 2015, there will not be a member of the Brooks Beasts on the US men's 800 meter squad, as Isaiah Harris (1:45.68) and 2019 world championship team member Brannon Kidder (1:46.09) finished sixth, and eighth, respectively.
Lake Washington HS grad Dillon Maggard finished tenth in the men's 5000, running 13:24.79.
In the women's 5000, Washington alum Eleanor Fulton was tenth in 16:04.98, while Seattle resident Allie Ostrander, a 2019 world championship team member in the steeple, was 16th in 16:12.03. Allie Buchalski of the Brooks Beasts was 22nd in 16:31.79.
NOTE: USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
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