EDGARD — Marcus Boudoin isn’t the biggest athlete at West St. John High School, nor is he the strongest.

He’s not even the fastest.

He’s smart, though, and he can run and jump.

So to longtime track coach Ulysses Frontha, Boudoin had all the makings of a hurdler.

“I usually try to find a sprinter who’s not one of your top sprinters,” Frontha said. “I tell people all the time, sprinters are a dime a dozen. Hurdlers are a special breed.”

West St. John certainly had a special one on Boudoin.

Earlier this month Boudoin finished as the Class 2A state runner-up in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. He also ran on the 4×200 meter relay team.

His best time in the 110 meter hurdles is 14.2 seconds and 39.18 seconds in the 300 meter hurdles.

His best finish, though, came last week as he signed a national letter of  intent to run track for the University of New Orleans.

Boudoin said he was thrilled with his state finishes, especially after placing fourth in the 110 and sixth in the 300 meter hurdles last year.

“It was a real good experience,” he said. “I was kind of upset I didn’t get first but at the same time, I bettered my times. That’s all that matters.”

Well, that and his college scholarship.

“I’m real excited,” he said.

Boudoin said he started running track when he was about 7 years old.

“I wouldn’t say I was the fastest, but I was up there,” he said.

Bobby Davis, who was his first coach, said he knew Boudoin was special then.

“I knew he was special because of how he worked out,” Adams said. “He came there to work. He just stayed the course. He started jumping when he was about 11 or 12 and he could jump way up there.”

Boudoin said it took him a while to learn the proper technique.

“At first I was just jumping over wild,” Boudoin said. “I started getting it down pat around the eighth grade.”

Once he got to West St. John, it was Frontha who helped put the polish on his form.

“I helped him a lot,” Frontha said. “What makes him a good hurdler is his technique.”

Boudoin also got some help from former LSU women’s hurdler Nickiesha Wilson, a three time Olympian from Jamaica.

Boudoin’s father, Mark, got in touch with Wilson through her web site and she met with Boudoin last summer.

“She was doing some training in the area and we reached out,” Mark Boudoin said. “He started working out with her, one-on-one. I think she’s the first person who actually did all this who said, ‘you have the ability to run in college.’ Before that he kind of doubted it, like, ‘I can?’ She’s the one who actually turned the light on and made him see that he did have the ability to go beyond high school.”

Boudoin said he first realized his son had real college athletic potential when he started seeing his times fall to the levels of other hurdlers around the state.

“Around his junior year,” Mark Boudoin said. “He was running about the same as the kids in (Class) 5A.”

There’s no doubt anymore, however, not after Boudoin joined his coaches and fellow track athletes Friday for a celebration of his scholarship to UNO.

Boudoin also was a standout wide receiver on the football team. He caught 26 passes for 802 yards and six touchdowns.

Boudoin crossed another finish line last week, graduating with honors from West St. John.

He was the second Ram athlete to receive a track scholarship this year. Sprinter (and quarterback) Austin Alexander will attend Southern Arkansas.

“Life is good,” said football coach and athletic director Brandon Walters. “Those guys are extremely talented, and we were definitely able to utilize their speed on the football field. Marcus had a really good year in football and even better in track. He’s the real deal.”