Antwon Hicks: Staying Aggressive
While other names may immediately come to mind when discussing current elite 110 hurdlers in the United States, one of the nation’s top 110m hurdlers on a consistent basis over the past decade has been Arkansas native Antwon Hicks. The 30-year-old Hicks, who stands 6’2” tall, has been hurdling professionally since graduating from Ole Miss University in 2005. In his career he has qualified for three Olympic Trials – 2004, 2008, and 2012. He made the finals both of the latter years, finishing fifth in the finals in 2008. In 2012 he finished fourth, missing a spot on the Olympic team by .06. And though he struggled with injury in 2013, his career is far from over.
Hicks began running track at the age of 8, under AAU coach Gary Canada. Then at the age of 12 he decided to give the hurdles a try, after focusing on the sprints for a few years. “At first I wanted to run the 100 and 200 like Carl Lewis,” he said, “but then I went to some meets and realized I wasn’t as fast as I thought I was. So I started playing around with the hurdles and jumping events. I got third at AAU Nationals that year, and that’s when I started following what some of the great hurdlers were doing.”
As with many young aspiring hurdlers in the mid to late 1990’s, Hicks’ primary inspiration was 1996 Olympic gold medalist Allen Johnson. Hicks was 13 when Johnson won the 110 hurdles at the Atlanta Games. He also mentions Mark Crear and Tony Dees as hurdling role models. In regards to Johnson, Hicks says “it was the way he hurdled, watching how he could use his speed” that most intrigued him. “I didn’t have the technical ability. Then after having some AAU success at nationals, that sparked a fire to see how far I could go with hurdling.”
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Throughout his middle school and high school years, Hicks found success in both the high hurdles and the high jump. Ironically, even though he has gone on to become a world class professional hurdler, he made a name for himself in high school more so as a high jumper.
He finished his career at Hot Springs High School with personal bests of 7-1 in the high jump and 14.08 in the hurdles. The high jump mark ranked him among the top ten in that event his senior year, while the hurdle mark only ranked him among the top 40. His senior year, he competed at the Nike Indoor Championships, and in several major national outdoor meets, including the Golden West Invitational and USA Junior Nationals. For all such meets, he focused on the high jump, not the hurdles. “I couldn’t get in for the hurdles,” he said.
But he loved the hurdles. He enjoyed high jump too, but “I would rather hurdle all day. I actually surprised myself when I started becoming a good hurdler. My foot speed wasn’t there. I was running maybe 11.6 in the 100 when I started high school. You don’t need superior speed to run the hurdles, but you have to have enough.”
Coach Canada pushed him hard in both events, knowing that being well-rounded would help Hicks to appeal to college recruiters. Hicks, meanwhile, felt that if he were to turn pro at some point, he would prefer to do so in the hurdles. “It’s more of a marquee event,” he said. “I loved track in general, but the hurdles made more sense for becoming a pro.”
But for obvious reasons, colleges were recruiting him more as a high jumper. “In high school,” Hicks said, “the goal was to get a scholarship, a free education. So I visited schools because of high jump. Some schools probably wouldn’t have had me hurdling.”
Hicks ultimately chose to attend The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) because they were willing to allow him to continue in both the high jump and the hurdles and see where he’d perform best. Ole Miss also appealed to him because it was in a top-notch conference – the South Eastern Conference – arguably the most competitive track and field conference in the country. “I also wanted to stay down South,” he said. “When I went there on my visit, it felt like the place for me.”
At Ole Miss, Hicks competed in the hurdles and the high jump, but the hurdles gradually began to take over. At 6’2”, he found that the adjustment from the 39-inch hurdles to the 42-inch barriers was not much of a problem at all. Also, now that he was on a regular training routine, he found himself improving rapidly.
“I had never lifted weights,” Hicks said. “I had never trained year round. Heading into college I was still skinny. At Ole Miss I got introduced to the weight room, got really strong and powerful. I still didn’t have a lot of foot speed, but I learned some technical things that I didn’t know. From 39 to 42 didn’t take any adjustment. I had no adjustment issues. Just being on a complete program helped me develop mentally and physically.”
Hicks credits coaches Joe Walker (currently an assistant at Louisville) and Brian O’Neal for his development as an all-around athlete and as a hurdler.
In the summer after his freshman year of 2002, Hicks won the World Junior Championship in the 110 hurdles in Kingston, Jamaica in a time of 13.42. This marked his first international experience, and his first major victory in the hurdles. At the NCAA national championships that same year, he finished fifth in the 110’s. It was definitely looking like he may indeed have a bright future in the hurdles.
A lean Hicks on the victory stand in June 2002 after winning Junior Nationals in 13.60. (photo courtesy archive.dyestat.com)
Meanwhile, his interest in the high jump was waning. He was finding it hard to toggle back and forth between events at this level, in such a fiercely competitive conference. “I high jumped my freshman and sophomore years,” he said, “then I said I’m through with the high jump. In the SEC, it was hard going back and forth between hurdles and high jump.”
The decision to focus all of his energies on the hurdles paid immediate dividends. He won the NCAA indoor championship in the 60 meter hurdles his junior year (2004), in a time of 7.61. He went on to finish seventh outdoors in the 110’s. That was also the year he qualified for his first Olympic Trials, where he made it to the semi-final round before missing out on qualifying for the final.
Throughout Hicks’ collegiate career, the SEC was loaded with talent in the high hurdles. The best in the conference were the best in the country. His primary rival throughout his collegiate career was Josh Walker of Florida, who won back-to-back NCAA titles in Hicks’ (and Walker’s) junior and senior years (2004 and 2005). When Hicks first arrived at Ole Miss, Ron Bramlett of Alabama was winning his second of back-to-back NCAA titles. As Hicks grew older, Jason Richardson of the University of South Carolina and Aries Merritt of The University of Tennessee proved to be very competitive rivals. Then, outside of the conference, he had to deal with guys like David Payne of The University of Cincinnati, Joel Brown of Ohio State University, and David Oliver of Howard University. “There were always guys around the same age,” Hicks recalls. “There were other guys who didn’t continue to the pro level but were tough competitors.”
The level of competition he faced while at Ole Miss prepared Hicks well for the transition to the professional ranks. After graduating in 2005, he signed with Adidas in 2006, beginning his professional career. Having had some international experience and an Olympic Trials experience under his belt, he felt ready to roll.
“I made it to (the Olympic Trials) semis as a junior,” he said. “As a freshman I went to World Juniors in Kingston, and that kind of kick-started everything. Once I went pro, it wasn’t much of an adjustment. Traveling to Europe was different. But as a US hurdler you get so much competition just in the United States that going abroad can be easier. Guys abroad can roll, but the US National Champs and US Trials are some tough meets.”
Although the transition went relatively smoothly, he quickly discovered that a fast race for a collegian is not a fast race for a pro. And he would have to adjust his mindset accordingly, as well as his approach to his craft.
As Hicks explained, “I kind of struggled the first couple years adjusting to the pro circuit. I ran around the same times I ran in college. One thing I learned is that I had to make a total dedication. I started studying film for hours upon hours because that’s what it took to break through and run professional times and start advancing. With a hurdler, you can always improve. Coming from college, all those hours you spend studying classes you have to spend studying your event. Because in order to get faster you have to really break your event down. Especially in the hurdles. There’s a lot of different nuances you have to learn to get those shades of seconds off your time.”
Hicks competes at the US Championships in 2007. (photo courtesy www.zimbio.com)
Out of college, Hicks stayed in Mississippi and trained with the same coaches – Walker and O’Neal. In his third year as a pro, 2008, Hicks established himself as a major player in the professional ranks. In February, he scored a big indoor victory at the Millrose Games in New York, where he defeated the likes of Joel Brown, Anwar Moore, and David Oliver in a time of 7.53. Regarding that race he commented, “I really dedicated myself in the off-season. I got myself physically developed, and technically as well. I really feel like I’m still a better outdoor hurdler. Yeah I ran the 7.53, which was an okay time. That race could’ve gone to anybody. But I was the best that day.”
Hicks entered the Olympic Trials that year feeling like he was in the best shape of his life. Which was a good thing, because there were four rounds of the high hurdles to contend. And the event was stacked with imposing figures. Among the big names were Oliver, Moore, Payne, Merritt and monster talent Terrence Trammell, who had two US Championship titles under his belt (2004 and 2007) and two Olympic silver medals (2000 and 2004). Not to mention legendary figures such as 1996 Olympic gold medalist Allen Johnson and American record holder Dominique Arnold. Hicks reflects that “the Trials is always tough. Everybody steps it up another level. There’s something about the atmosphere.”
Hicks (left) competes against Terrence Trammell at the 2009 Adidas Track Classic. (photo courtesy www.zimbio.com)
And he stepped it up another level himself. He won his first round heat over Trammell in 13.36. He ran another excellent race in the quarter-finals, winning his heat in 13.28, a tenth of a second ahead of Merritt. The next day, in the semis, he finished second in the second heat, one hundredth of a second behind Trammell, 13.08 to 13.09. That was a legal wind personal best, and it still is Hick’s pb to this day. Heading into the final, he was looking like one of the favorites to make the Olympic team. Others who looked sharp in the rounds were Moore, Oliver, Payne, and Merritt. In the first semi-final heat, Oliver ran a 12.89 with the aid of a 3.2 tailwind. Moore, in Hicks’ heat, had finished 3rd in that race, only .06 behind Hicks.
In the finals later that same day, Hicks couldn’t reproduce the performance he had put forth in the semis. He ended up fifth in 13.33, while the top spots went to Oliver, Trammell, and Payne. Merritt finished fourth. Hicks blames the let-down on being too eager. “I screwed up in the finals,” he recalls. “I didn’t drive properly, I wanted to make the Olympic team. I learned you really have to focus on what you’re doing. I felt really good going into the meet. Coach Walker prepared me well. I was in peak condition. I should’ve made the team, but it all comes down to one race. It was a learning experience.”
Regarding his improper drive in that finals race, Hicks points out that, as a lifelong seven-stepper to the first hurdle, it’s important to be patient. But in the final he was so anxious to keep up with the quicker eight-steppers (no one else was seven-stepping at that time) that he lost focus, quickened his own cadence, and ended up reaching for that first hurdle, messing up his speed going into hurdles two and three. From there, it was a fight to catch up, but there’s no catching up to the likes of Trammell and Oliver.
In 2011, after ten years in Mississippi (four as a collegian, six as a pro), Hicks decided to move to Miami to train with Joey Scott, who had run the hurdles for The University of Oklahoma during Hicks’ time at Ole Miss. The two had actually competed against each other, and were close friends.
In explaining his move to Miami, Hicks says, “I switched because I was ready to leave Mississippi. I had a couple years (2009, 2010) where I didn’t run as well. I wanted a new place. Coach Walker retired. I was just ready for a change of scenery. I also wanted to train somewhere I could run outside all year long. Miami is the perfect place for that. That’s very good for hurdling, especially when preparing for outdoors. I can line up 13 hurdles any time of year.”
So by the time 2012 rolled around, Hicks was ready to make another bid to qualify for the Olympic team. By this time, Merritt and Richardson had moved to the top of the hurdling game, Oliver was still going strong, and there was an assortment of other hurdlers with potential to make some noise. Namely, veterans Dexter Faulk, Jeff Porter, and Ryan Wilson. Hicks was in the thick of the hunt.
Hicks (left) races Aries Merritt in the semis of the 2012 US Champs. (photo courtesy www.zimbio.com)
This time, there were only three rounds of the high hurdles. In the first round, Hicks finished second in the second heat, running 13.24 to Richardson’s 13.13. Hicks’ time was the third fastest, as Merritt also ran 13.13 in the first heat.
The semis featured three heats of six. Hicks, running in heat two, dropped his time down to 13.22, finished second behind Merritt’s 13.01. In the first heat, Oliver, Wilson, and Faulk all qualified for the final; Oliver won the heat in 13.27. In heat three, Richardson dipped under 13 flat with a 12.98, and Porter finished second in 13.19. Hicks had the fourth fastest time heading into the final. He had his work cut out for him, but his chances were looking good, and he wouldn’t make the same mistake he had made in the 2008 final.
Hicks ran out of lane two, with Oliver next to him in lane three. Porter was in four, Merritt in five, Richardson in six. This time Hicks got out very well to the first hurdle and was in the hunt for a spot on the team. He ran a very sound race technically, skimming the hurdles without hitting them, moving his feet quickly in between. Merritt established a clear lead about midway through the race, and Richardson also created slight separation from the rest of the field around hurdle eight. Hicks was among three or four hurdlers who dove at the line for the final Olympic berth. But Porter’s lean was a lean for the ages. He basically flew superman-style across the line, propelling himself to a third-place finish. Hicks had to settle for fourth, in 13.14.
Despite the disappointment of narrowly missing another opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games, Hicks was able to keep it all in perspective. “That was a great performance by Porter,” he said. “Clutch. Those races in those trials I ran with everything I had. I couldn’t get mad at what I did. I was trying as fast as I could. Aries and J-Rich were on another planet. Porter just came through big time. Coming into those trials, I wasn’t favored to run that well. I had just switched coaches, I was learning new things, a new system. By the Trials I felt like I was good to go. But it was just a big-time performance for Porter. I tip my hat to him.”
On a more philosophical level, Hicks observed, “One thing I learned early with track is you’re gonna have ups and downs. If you train hard every day, your time will come. It’s about developing. Instead of getting mad at yourself, look back at the race and ask what did I do wrong, what could I have done better to prepare.”
In 2013, Hicks got his outdoor season off to a good start, running a 13.25 in Kingston, Jamaica on May 4th. However, a heel injury hampered him from that point on, as his race times throughout the month of May grew progressively slower. He tried to battle through the pain, but his season effectively ended after the USA Championships in June.
“I found out I have a spur in the back of my heel,” Hicks explained. “I’m trying to get that taken care of at the moment. I couldn’t really train last year because of the pain. The month before USA’s I was working out in the pool all of the time. I went to USA’s, just to see what would happen, but didn’t make it out the first round.”
Hicks competes at the 2013 US Championships. (photo courtesy www.zimbio.com)
Hicks plans to keep his career going into 2014, and has no immediate plans of retirement. “I’m year to year,” he said. “As long as my body holds up and I can still run fast, I’ll hang in there. I don’t have an exact age or year to say to myself, okay, I’m gonna be finished.”
Meanwhile, Hicks has already started preparing for life after track. Since moving to Miami, he has been coaching at Coral Reef High school. He also has a private coaching business; he works with track athletes, athletes of other sports, and people who just want to get into better shape. As for long-term plans, “I’ll more than likely go into coaching,” he said. “Maybe at the collegiate level, but I like coaching high school.”
As for Hicks’ hurdling legacy, besides an outstanding career, he will also go down as one of the earliest and most efficient seven-steppers the event has ever seen. Off the top of my head, German Florian Schwarthoff in the 1990’s and Finland’s Arto Bryggare in the 1980’s were the only two hurdlers I know of who seven-stepped prior to Hicks. Funny thing is, Hicks’ decision to take seven steps to the first hurdle was not a decision at all. He was doing it before he even realized he was.
“When I was twelve I was seven-stepping,” Hicks explains. “I didn’t know I was taking one step less than everybody else. The first time I lined up and just ran, I just happened to seven-step. I never paid attention to what the eight-steppers were doing. The first time I did a standing start, it was seven steps. By not knowing that, it cost me in some races. After I found out, I started stuttering a little more.”
When asked why his coach didn’t compel him to take the traditional eight steps, Hicks said that his coach was still learning the hurdles himself. “He was going to coaching classes, stuff like that. We didn’t have YouTube back then; we couldn’t just go online and study. And back then nobody was talking about seven steps vs. eight steps. We were trying to get the hurdle stuff down. I had no idea.”
He didn’t even realize he was seven-stepping until he got to college. “Coach had the acceleration pattern [to the first hurdle] set up. And it never worked. That’s when he said you’re taking seven steps.”
While it would be easy to assume that Hicks would be a staunch advocate for the seven-step approach, that is not necessarily the case. As someone who has done it for all of his hurdling life, he is keenly aware of the potential pitfalls that come with it. His bad start at the 2008 Olympic Trials serves as a reminder. “If you do seven steps inefficiently,” Hicks says, “it can mess you up. If you do it right it can be an advantage.”
And what’s the difference? “You have to really be powerful,” Hicks explains. “You gotta cover that ground. In heated competition I’ll try to come out too fast and I’ll lose momentum to the first hurdle. That’s what happened in the final in ’08. Between hurdles one and two, two and three, I’ll be slow. There’ve been races where I’ve had to over-stride to get to the first hurdle. That kills your momentum also.”
But Hicks does feel that the big spike in seven-steppers the past four to five years is not by accident. At the 2013 World Championships this past August, seven of the eight finalists took seven steps to the first hurdle, with varying degrees of success. Bronze medalist Sergey Shubenkov of Russia was the sole eight-stepper. The fact that he earned a medal lets us know that old school still works. But Hicks would argue that “if you can seven-step efficiently, then it helps your time. Three of the sub-12.90’s (David Oliver, Dayron Robles, Aries Merritt) were by 7-steppers. You are taking one step off, so that one stride should cut the time down. The times as a whole are a lot faster. Back in the day, 13.30 would put you in the top ten in the world. I ran 13.14 last year and was like number eleven. If you can seven-step efficiently, then do it because it’s more beneficial for you. If not, stick with eight steps.”
What Hicks most likes about seven-stepping is that it allows him to be aggressive, to set an aggressive tone from the very start. “What I love most about hurdling is the aggression of it,” he says. “The feeling of when you take off into a hurdle and come off, the way speed builds from hurdle to hurdle. I love it. It’s a different feeling from sprinting.”
At his height, staying aggressive throughout a race can be a serious challenge. His favorite workout is a version of the zone drill that Coach Walker designed to deal with this issue. “We put the hurdles at 42 inches on the women’s marks, so I’m really tight, really jammed. When I can get that workout down to where I’m really aggressive, I can mimic how it feels in a race. Sometimes I miss the days when I was slower and could three-step without running up on hurdles. My shuffle still needs to get a little bit tighter.”
Aggressive on the track, laid-back off the track, humble in victory, gracious in defeat, Antwon Hicks serves as a great role model for young athletes to follow, and a great example of what it means to be a hurdler.
***
Antwon Hicks’ Website: www.wearegoalcrushers.com
YouTube footage of Hicks’ 2008 victory at the Millrose Games: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwVYF2uMK1Y
YouTube footage of 2008 Olympic Trials Final: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIKTP4C5eX8
YouTube footage of 2012 Olympic Trials Final: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUPmANl4fDM
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