Nine-year-old Dominique Brown, left, and 18-year-old Michael Brown, right train to prepare for this weekend’s district track meet in Monroe, La. Dominique competes in the long jump, and Michael runs the 400-meter hurdles. The two brothers are trying to qualify for the Junior Olympics. (Photo Illustration by Travis Passmore and Melanie Duncan ThortisThe Vicksburg Post)

[6/26/03]With nearly a decade separating them, brothers Michael and Dominique Brown are making waves in the track and field world with their eyes on the Junior Olympics.

Both are training with the Jackson Jaguars summer team and Jackson State coach Edmond Donald to qualify for the Junior Olympics.

Michael, who recently transferred from Alcorn State to Jackson State to run for Donald, is running the 400-meter hurdles this summer an event he never competed in prior to this year.

In the Peak Performance Track and Field Classic in Monroe, La., on June 7, the 18-year-old Brown placed first in his age group in the 400 hurdles with a time of 55.90, well short of his ultimate goal.

“Right now I’m just running to get my times down,” he said. “The times I’ve ran so far qualify for last year’s nationals, but I still want to get them lower.”

It’s been a long road for Michael, who had problems with his coaches at Alcorn during his freshman year last year.

“I did as good as I could for the situation (at Alcorn),” he said. “The coaches coached the seniors and didn’t pay much attention to the freshmen.”

Despite the lack of guidance, Michael still managed to qualify for the Southwestern Athletic Conference meet in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Now he has a new challenge of qualifying for the Junior Olympics, but this time he has a coach who’s more than willing to train him.

Donald has worked all summer with Michael on his form, particularly with his footwork between the hurdle jumps, and it has paid off.

“I’ve already had faster times this summer than I had all year (at Alcorn),” he said.

Michael has trained hard and dedicated a lot of time this spring and summer to improving. The family canceled a vacation to Chicago last week because Michael and Dominique were running at a meet in Hattiesburg. And, as luck would have it, the meet got rained out.

In the end, Michael hopes his hard work and dedication will pay off with a spot in the Junior Olympics, but he also has another objective in mind.

“My big goal is to make the NCAAs next year,” he said. “I’m working on my 400 hurdles because I had never run them until this year. I’m trying it out, and by the end of the summer I should have my time down to 53 or 52 seconds.”

By the end of the summer, Michael’s younger brother Dominique may have a national long jump title in the first track events of his blooming career.

At only nine years old, Dominique placed first in his age group in the long jump during the tournament in Monroe. Dominique was also third in the 100-, 200-, and 400-meters.

With a distance of 12 feet, 6 inches in the long jump, Dominique already has a good chance of finishing first at the national competition, thanks in large part to his brother.

“I used to jump practicing with (Michael),” Dominique said. “My brother showed me how to do it.”

While watching Michael train at Vicksburg High, Dominique decided to try his worth in the long jump. Michael happened to look over one day and saw that his younger sibling was actually quite good at it with no training of any kind.

“I told him, You’re going to run in the summer with me,'” Michael said.

Dominique competed in the final invitational of the summer last year and blew away the competition to win the long jump in his first ever event.

This summer, Michael convinced his coach, Donald, to let Dominique train with the Jaguars.

The two boys have been running in meets to get in top shape for when it matters this weekend’s USATF Southern Association Junior Olympic Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Monroe. Teams from Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama will all be trying to qualify for the next step on the road to the Junior Olympics.

Qualifying for the meet begins Friday, with events on Saturday.

Those who make it past will compete in the regional championships, and the winners of that meet will qualify for the Junior Olympics.

“I have a real good chance,” Michael said. “It’s real important to me because I’m obligating my whole summer to it.”