MAKERIAH HARRIS COMPETES AT THE '23 NEW BALANCE OUTDOOR NATIONALS!
What started out as two of the best athletes in the Louisiana warming up together last summer at the AAU Club Championships in Orlando, has ended up with pair being best friends. This week, the besties were named Louisiana's Gatorade Track and Field Players of the Year.
Former John Curtis hurdler, Justin Horne, who is now preparing for his collegiate career as a member of the Texas Tech University football team, was looking for someone to warm up with before the 110m hurdles. He found Scotlandville's Makeriah Harris nearby and asked her if she would like to warm up together.
"There was a bond immediately even though we were on different teams," Horne said.
Harris invited Horne to hang out at the Run Fast Track Club tent, and that's where he spent most of his time for the remainder of the meet.
The friendship continued in Greensboro, North Carolina at the AAU National Junior Olympics where Horne and Harris added Kali Magana and Laila Johnson to their group and "had the time of our lives."
"It was very memorable and I will never forget that," Horne said. "Ever since we have all been bonded together and we text every single day."
"Ever since (junior olympics) we've been inspearable," Harris said. "We feed off of each other, push each other, and always support one another, and it just feels great to have that support from someone who is working just as hard as you."
While Harris is proud to win Louisiana's track and field's top award, she is even more proud for her buddy, Horne.
"I am most proud of my best friend for winning Gatorade Player of the Year," Harris said. "It isn't often you see two best friends as Gatorade Player of the Year."
The 5-foot-8 junior, who becomes the first female athlete in the history of Scotlandville Magnet High School to win the Gatorade Player of the Year Award, won Class 5A state titles in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, also contributing to a winning 4x200 relay quartet and helping the Hornets to a share of the LHSAA Class 5A championship. Harris broke the 100 hurdles state record with a wind-legal 13.18 seconds at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays; that time matched for No. 2 clocking nationally among girls prep competitors in 2023.
"This year, God has opened so many doors for me," Harris said. "He has shown and given me patience, humbleness, and confidence this season. I am grateful and blessed to know my hard work is paying off!"
Harris, who is now eligible to win Gatorade's National Player of the Year award, said the honor is another stepping stone as she prepares for her senior year at Scotlandville.
JUSTIN HORNE COMPETES AT THE '23 LHSAA CLASS 5A STATE MEET
Horne is the first John Curtis athlete to win the award since Raven Nunnery won the award in 2020 and 2021.
"To me, this means that no matter what I accomplished, I never felt like I made it," Horne said. "So, I never made it seem like I did. I went through a bunch of adversity my entire high school athletic career. I knew what I had to do to shut people up, being proud of little things wasn't one of them. I am so grateful for the award and thank God so much, because this one means a lot to me."
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior swept the hurdling events at the Class 5A state meet this past season, leading the Patriots to a third place finish as a team.
Horne broke the tape in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 13.82. He won the 300 hurdles in 37.25. He graduated as the state record-holder in the 110 hurdles-a personal-best clocking of 13.64, which ranked No. 24 nationally among prep boys in 2023. His PR of 37.24 in the 300 at the Class 5A district meet was nation's No. 23 time in the event this spring.