South Portland junior Arnaud Sioho took home four gold medals at the Class A state track meet on June 1, staking his claim as the Maine Gatorade Boys Track & Field Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-2 Burkina Faso native won the Gatorade award Thursday morning, 26 days after winning the 300-meter hurdles, 110-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump outright at states and powering the Red Riots to the team title.
Sioho qualified to compete in the latter three events at New Englands on June 8, and proceeded to set a personal record of 48 feet, 47.5 inches in the triple jump, winning gold.
“I’m most proud of the humility, joy, and camaraderie [Arnaud] brings to the sport,” South Portland head track coach Dave Kahill said. “He loves his teammates, respects his opponents, and embraces competition. He works incredibly hard every day in practice and studies videos for technique improvement in all of his events.”
Sioho emigrated to the United States in 2020, and has volunteered locally as a French-language translator and interpreter. He maintains an A average in the classroom, and will begin his senior year this fall.
Sioho joins recent Gatorade Maine Boys Track & Field Players of the Year Matt Charpentier of York (2023), Andrew Farr of Gorham (2022) and Tyler Patterson of Brunswick (2021). He is the fourth winner of the award from South Portland High School.
