{"id":1479,"date":"2022-02-22T23:13:32","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T05:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/?p=1479"},"modified":"2022-02-22T23:13:32","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T05:13:32","slug":"journal-shreves-stevenson-brings-home-lhsaa-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/?p=1479","title":{"rendered":"Journal \u2013 Shreve\u2019s Stevenson brings home LHSAA gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JERRY BYRD JR., Journal Sports<\/strong><\/p>\n

Captain Shreve sprinter Marquez \u201cMacho\u201d Stevenson came into the 2022 LHSAA State Indoor Championships with quite the resume\u2019. For starters, he was the only current competitor in the state who had broken the 50-second barrier over 400 meters.<\/p>\n

However, there was one glaring omission \u2014 a state championship.<\/p>\n

Only a junior, Stevenson can now check the \u201cstate champion\u201d box off his \u201cTo Do\u201d list. He won in 48.93. a time that puts him No. 23 on the national list of top prep indoor marks for 2022.<\/p>\n

Last spring, Stevenson arrived on the track and field scene after basketball season and quickly made his way from one of the best in 2021 to one of the area\u2019s best \u2014 ever.<\/p>\n

He took third at the LHSAA Outdoor Championships (48.57) in early May. A couple months later, he carved nearly two seconds off his personal record. Stevenson clocked 46.85 at the AAU Junior Olympics in Humble, Texas, moving past Mansfield\u2019s Jerry Wilson\u2019s 46.91 to the top of the all-time Caddo-Bossier performance list.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Stevenson had bigger goals than a gold medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to break the (state meet) record,\u201d Stevenson said. \u201cBut I came up short. I put this race in God\u2019s hands. I just went out and ran.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Division I record in the 400 is 48.29 was set in 2018 by Zachary\u2019s Sean Burrell, who won a national championship in the 400 hurdles for LSU last spring. The LHSAA Indoor State Composite record is 48.15 set by J.S. Clark\u2019s Ashton Collins in 2001.<\/p>\n

Captain Shreve football offensive coordinator Adam Kirby stood at the rail watching his wide receiver as he LHSAA director Eddie Bonine placed the gold medal around Stevenson\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never coached an athlete that fast,\u201d Kirby said, an ominous statement for Gator foes this fall.<\/p>\n

At this point there are only three or four coaches in the state who have, but none in Northwest Louisiana.<\/p>\n

Stevenson was appreciative of Kirby and other coaches traveling to Baton Rouge to watch him compete.<\/p>\n

And also thankful for the efforts of his mother, Alecima Stevenson, who along with an army of supporters who casts 37,527 votes for MileSplit Louisiana\u2019s Performer of the Week last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot,\u201d Stevenson said of the support. \u201cIt shows that people are looking out for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other area state champions included Northwestern State signee Peyten Ware of North Webster, who vaulted 11-1.75. Ware also finished fourth in the Division II long jump with a best of 16-7.25.<\/p>\n

As Ware stepped off the podium, she crossed the track at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse to hug her father, North Webster head football coach John Ware.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe cried,\u201d Ware said of her father during the hug. \u201cHe probably won\u2019t like me saying that, but he cried. This was my biggest dream, and his.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another area state champion was Mansfield\u2019s Jayden Youngblood, who is the first indoor state champion in school history for the Wolverines. Youngblood won the Division II 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.31.<\/p>\n

While she didn\u2019t win a state championship, Huntington sophomore Demetria Harris did score 16 points with two second-place finishes. Harris finished second in the 60 hurdles (8.78) and 60 meters (7.76).<\/p>\n

The 60 meter hurdles race was fast. Scotlandville sophomore Makeriah Harris won (8.60), Harris was second and Ruston\u2019s Bryanna Craig finished third (8.82). They rank among the top 13 girls hurdlers in the nation.<\/p>\n

Read more at ShreveportBossierJournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By JERRY BYRD JR., Journal Sports Captain Shreve sprinter Marquez \u201cMacho\u201d Stevenson came into the 2022 LHSAA State Indoor Championships with quite the resume\u2019. For starters, he was the only current competitor in the state who had broken the 50-second barrier over 400 meters. However, there was one glaring omission \u2014 a state championship. Only […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ka5C-nR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1480,"href":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1479\/revisions\/1480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblog.captainshreve.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}