Sprinter Divonne Franklin will compete at the Penn Relays — one day after coaching the Haverford men

Divonne Franklin wasn’t a child phenomenon in track and field. She didn’t compete on an outside club team. She wasn’t breaking records or winning state championships. But that was never her goal.

Franklin, who was born in Memphis and moved to Philadelphia in 2010, certainly was one of the better sprinters during her time at Archbishop Carroll High School and good enough to get recognized by Division II and III programs. It wasn’t until college at California (Pa.), now PennWest California, that she realized she has untapped potential in the sport.

“The person I was when I was a freshman in college was very scared, didn’t know anything about herself or who she was,” said Franklin, who now competes with Garden State Track Club. “I feel like the person I am now is way more experienced, and not only am I more motivated, but I have more discipline — motivation can only take you so far."

Her mindset led her to a Division II national championship in the 100 and 200 meters in 2023, her final year of collegiate track. She became the program’s first national titleholder since 1985, and it has since fueled her to continue a running career after graduation.

For the last year, Franklin has served as an assistant coach for the men’s track and field team at Haverford College. When she’s not training or coaching, she’s working for Abington Jefferson Hospital in remote telemetry monitoring. (She also was an academic All-American at California.)

Franklin has Olympic aspirations and is working to earn a spot in the U.S. Olympic trials for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. This week, she returns to a familiar stomping ground, Franklin Field, for the Penn Relays.

On Friday, Franklin will be coaching her Haverford sprinters, who will run in the college men’s 4x100 Eastern relay. On Saturday, she’ll be lacing up her sneakers to compete in the women’s 4x100 open club race.

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It will mark her first time running at Penn since college, and she’s looking forward to being on a bigger stage again. She hopes to make more appearances on it in the future.

“I want to advance in my track career.” Franklin said. “I feel like I have more to give and more to show, and I wanted just to continue working on that.”

Her college coach, Sandy Estep, who still trains Franklin, knew the 5-foot-10 sprinter could make great strides when she came to campus as a freshman.

During her first outdoor season, Franklin finished with bests of 11.88 seconds in the 100 and 24.92 seconds in the 200. She continued to drop her times in those events, which led to her career best of 11.09 in the 2023 NCAA outdoor championships. She finished the 200 in 22.65 at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championships that same season.

But it didn’t come without challenges and tough conversations. Franklin had to learn and train while her sophomore season was canceled because of the pandemic. She also had to overcome self-doubts even after her successes.

“She’s very coachable,” Estep said. “It’s always easy to have those conversations with her. … She always made changes and tried. And I think that’s what set her apart. When she said she wanted something, she put her all into it. It was a lot of fun to watch.”

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Franklin earned a scholarship after the success of her freshman season. It took a large financial burden off her plate. Initially, she thought she would have to leave the university after her first year, until she confided in Estep about the situation.

The scholarship gave Franklin extra motivation, and she started chasing accolades and achievements on her own.

First, it was a conference championship, and she earned 15 titles between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Then it was earning an All-American status. By the time she got to her senior outdoor season, her goal was to qualify for Division II outdoor nationals in 2022.

She achieved that, but she failed to reach the final.

“I was very upset and I didn’t ever want to feel that way again,” Franklin said. “I know that I have what it takes to be in the final. That was kind of a turning point for me because I was willing to do anything and everything I could to get there. … I changed a lot of things. I did a lot of journaling and a lot of thinking.”

It felt fitting that during her fifth and final year of outdoor track, Franklin not only made the final in two events but also took home hardware as an NCAA champion in both.

She recalled the moment as euphoric and a feeling that validated the work she put in to get there. Her first-place finish in the 200 (in 22.77) also led to an opportunity to compete in the event at the USA track and field championships that summer, marking her third time competing on a national stage and first outdoors.

“There’s so much more skill work to learn, but I see her growth and numbers change in practice, in the weight room, and she has not run what she’s capable of running yet,” Estep said. “Those are kind of the conversations we had. She has the desire to keep going. Now, it’s the challenge of doing it without the team and on her own.”

Franklin is OK with that. She’s been through the uphill battle but has seen what’s on the other side, and her journey has taught her that if she wants something, it’s up to her to achieve it. That’s what keeps her going.

“The sport is rewarding, but the lows are very low,” Franklin said. “But the highs are very high, and I feel like you should just continue to strive for those highs, even when you do hit those lows, because you can only go up from there. Keep pushing through, enjoy it, and have fun.”