Track and field

Hicks edges Brown in hurdles

BOSTON -- Joel Brown (Woodlawn) finished second behind fellow U.S. Olympic hopeful Antwon Hicks in the 60-meter high hurdles at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games at the Reggie Lewis Center last night.

In a race not decided until the final stride, Hicks simply outleaned Brown over the finish line, crossing in 7.59 seconds to Brown's 7.61, with Aries Merritt (7.65) and Charles Allen (7.70) right on their heels.

Brown will be 28 on Thursday. He has moved his training base from Columbus, Ohio (where he had been an assistant track coach at his alma mater, Ohio State), to Orlando, Fla., where he can train full-time under former Olympic coach Brooks Johnson.

"I'm not a celebrating kind of guy, I'm not big into birthdays and those things, so I don't want to make a big deal of this," Brown said. "But, sure, I had a lot to be happy about tonight.

"I had some problems at the start of the race - Aries and I were hitting. It took until the third hurdle to get my balance back. And I was right back in it. Antwon just got me, but not by much."