Off the track and out of the spotlight, Danny Allen and Jacobi Jenkins share little in common with each other.

Allen and Jenkins, after all, do not attend the same high school. They do not sprint and hurdle and jump for the same team. They are not the same height, the same weight or the same age. They do not share so much as a pecking order in their own families. Allen is the older of two children, Jenkins is the youngest of three.

But on the track, Allen, a Nash Central junior, and Jenkins, a Rocky Mount High senior, are turning the corner, both literally and figuratively, and turning in markedly similar times in the 110-meter high hurdles and the 300 intermediate hurdles. And, with the NCHSAA 3-A Eastern Regional and the 3-A state championship meets on the schedule and approaching quickly, they are turning into two of the better hurdlers anywhere in North Carolina.

"They are outstanding," Nash Central boys' track & field coach Brian Winham said. "Those two guys will probably finish top three, top four in the state. Maybe there are some other runners out there, but when you look at them, they are strong."

So strong that, for a minute or two early Wednesday night, they turned two races into little more than a duel. Early during the meet, Jenkins edged Allen in the 110 high hurdles by two one-hundredths of a second, 14.21 to 14.23. The next hurdler crossed the finish line almost a second later. About an hour after their first race, Allen returned the favor and beat Jenkins in the 300 hurdles by one one-hundredth of a second, 38.34 to 38.35. This time, no other hurdler finished within a stretch of almost four seconds.

"They are probably the top two hurdlers in the state," Rocky Mount boys' track & field coach Dee Anna Davis said. "You can't take anything away from those kids."

But how did Allen and Jenkins reach this point? Why are they so much faster, so much stronger and so much more dominant than any other hurdlers in the Twin Counties? Well, both Allen and Jenkins said they are natural athletes blessed with speed and fast-twitch muscle fibers. And, yes, practice.

But Marcus Jenkins is also as important to the rivalry than any practice or race.

See, Marcus Jenkins, who is 23 and a former linebacker for the Shaw University football team, beat Jenkins time after time, in races and games and all sorts of silly contests, when they were growing up in Rocky Mount. That is what older brothers do to younger brothers.

So when Jenkins moved to high school, he said he wanted to turn into a better football player than his brother. He wanted to turn into a bigger track star, too.

"He is the reason I do what I do," Jenkins said.

But how is Marcus Jenkins the reason Allen does what he does?

Because Allen said that prior to this season, he "looked up to (Jacobi Jenkins) every day, hoping to be at his level."

Without Marcus Jenkins on the track years ago, Jenkins might not have turned his attention to the sport. And without Jenkins to first motivate him and now spur him during one meet after another, Allen might not have developed the speed and the skill required to roll through the hurdles.

And without both on the track, well, the rivalry might not have developed at all.

Allen and Jenkins hurdled against each other in dozens of races last year, though the rivalry did not develop because Jenkins beat Allen in each race.

"To tell you the truth," Allen said, "I didn't think I was ever going to beat him."

Even at the 3-A state championship meet in Greensboro, Jenkins finished second in the 300 hurdles and third in the 110 high hurdles. Allen finished sixth in the 110 hurdles. But both have dropped their times significantly since then. Allen beat Jenkins for the first time during a dual meet a little more than a month ago, after which he said he felt as if he had won a state championship. Now, the pair trades wins back and forth and, now, appears poised to move toward the front of the pack.

"Because they race against each other all the time," Davis said, "they know they have to compete at the county meet, at the conference meet, at the regional meet.

"They have to compete every time on the track."

That means Saturday, too. And the Saturday after that. If nothing else, they will share a track and some memories.

Matt LaWell can be reached at 407-9952 or mlawell@coxnc.com