South Portland junior Arnaud Sioho wins the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.60 seconds at the SMAA track and field championships in Kennebunk. Sioho won four events at both the SMAA meet and the Class A meet, then captured a New England title in the triple jump. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

SOUTH PORTLAND — When Arnaud Sioho competes, he enjoys the moment.

A senior-to-be at South Portland High, Sioho will encourage his friends, fellow competitors and fans to start a rhythmic clap before he attempts a long jump or triple jump. A smile bursts across his face when he completes a fast hurdles race.

“He’s just a joyful person and he loves that heightened competition,” said South Portland Coach Dave Kahill. “Especially with the team competition on the line.”

Sioho, 17, wholeheartedly admits he’s become a track and field geek. He watches videos of elite athletes for inspiration and of his own performances to critique what could be better. He remembers his own distances and times with precision. In a sit-down interview two weeks after competing at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia, Sioho ticked off PRs and accomplishments of his peers while talking animatedly about his own races and jumps – both good and not so good.

“I love to compete. Right now, though, I’m missing it. Sometimes I wake up and, I don’t know why, I just put on my track spikes,” he said.

Sioho’s ability to thrive and shine at the biggest meets was evident when he won four individual events at both the SMAA championships and the Class A meet, then followed up with a New England triple jump title. That’s why Sioho is the 2024 Varsity Maine Boys’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year. He also was named the Gatorade Maine boys’ track athlete of the year.

At the SMAA and state meets, Sioho swept the long jump, triple jump, 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles in record-breaking fashion.

On a Friday night at Kennebunk High, he set four South Portland school records, breaking marks that had stood between 22 and 33 years. He leaped 23 feet, 7 3/4 inches in the long jump and 47-6 3/4 in the triple jump, and posted times of 14.60 and 38.94 in the hurdles.

Eight days later at Thornton Academy, Sioho became just the third boy in Class A meet history to win four individual events, setting meet records in the long jump (23-2 1/4) and triple jump (47-2) and bettering his week-old school record in the 300 hurdles with a time of 38.67. Sioho’s huge day led South Portland to the boys’ team title.

When he won the New England triple jump championship, after missing out on the finals in both the 110 hurdles and long jump, Sioho had three jumps over 48 feet and four that bettered his previous PR from the SMAA meet. He won with a wind-aided 48-4 3/4, but he also had two jumps of 48-2 1/2 that were wind legal, and a foot and a half beyond the runner-up’s best effort.

“He is pretty fun to watch,” Kahill said.

Sioho’s performances are even more impressive once you’ve learned his track origin story.

Sioho is originally from Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in West Africa. He came to Maine in 2020 with his mother, stepfather (Sioho’s biological father died when he was 2) and younger brother. They lived in Portland for awhile, with Sioho attending King Middle School, before moving to South Portland when he was still in middle school.

Sioho had played a bit of basketball and soccer, but no organized sports. Midway through his freshman year, during a physical education class, Sioho was spotted dunking a basketball.

“I was just running and jumping high, and my PE coach saw me, and he was like, ‘Oh wow, you can jump.’ He was surprised,” Sioho said.

If this had happened a month earlier, possibly the story would be different. “I wanted to do basketball, but they had already started and I couldn’t join the team, so they were like, ‘Why don’t you just join track?'”

In that first freshman indoor track season, Sioho’s bests were mid-17 feet in the long jump and 37 feet in the triple jump. Good, but far from great. But Sioho says he was getting plenty of encouragement from the coaches, including Kahill.

“When I joined the team, he knew I was going to be a good jumper. I don’t know how he knew,” Sioho said.

See Varsity Maine’s picks for the boys’ track & field 2024 All-State team

Sioho didn’t hurdle at all as a freshman and laughs about his two attempts during his sophomore indoor season. “I think there’s a video where I came to my very first hurdle and it was crazy. My arms are going all over the places. It was insane.”

He did not begin hurdling with any competitive intent until this past indoor season.

“He’s still pretty raw in terms of becoming an athlete,” Kahill said. “I’m sure he played soccer in some capacity in Burkina Faso, but in terms of doing organized sports, it’s been just his three years in high school. And he hadn’t really done any (weight) lifting until last summer.”

Sioho’s combination of natural talent, love of his newfound sport, and the fact that he is still a novice is making him an increasingly well-known recruit who has already drawn Division I interest from the likes of the University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University.

“I improved in a little amount of time. Since my freshman year to this year. You look at, you’d think, ‘this guy’s probably been running track for his whole life,’ but really not. It’s only been three years,” Sioho said.