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By Steve Andrews | Photo by Ted McClenning 

When Isaiah Sategna arrived at Fayetteville High School three years ago, his goals and expectations for himself were set extremely high. 

Now, even he acknowledges he didn’t expect all the accolades he has been able to garner — on both the football field and the track. 

The 5-foot-11, 170-pound speedster began his senior year this past fall as the top-rated football player in the state, leading the Bulldogs to the Class 7A state championship game, before finishing the year by pacing the Fayetteville track and field team to the 6A team state championship, while collecting four individual state titles along the way.

For his efforts, SBLive has named Sategna the Arkansas Male Athlete of the Year.

“My entire high school experience was definitely a blessing from God,” he said. “I just set my goals high, trained as hard as I could to reach them, and just stayed focused on what I wanted to accomplish.”

Sategna has already embarked on his next journey, arriving on the University of Arkansas campus three weeks ago to play football and compete in track and field for the Razorbacks. He had originally planned to graduate from Fayetteville early and begin spring football drills with the Hogs in January, before choosing to remain for his final high school track season this spring.

“I thought about getting a head start in football, but then decided I wanted to leave a mark on Fayetteville and Arkansas track and field,” he said. “And I’m glad I did.”

The 4-star football prospect, rated the No. 1 overall player in the state and the No. 22 wide receiver nationally by Rivals, chose the Razorbacks after flirting with oral commitments to Texas A&M and Oregon. Arkansas was the first of more than 25 Division I programs to offer Sategna. He liked the direction that coach Sam Pittman had the Razorback program headed and ultimately decided to stay closer to home. He officially signed his letter-of-intent Dec. 15.

Sategna led the state with 100 catches and 1,908 receiving yards last season, with 17 touchdowns. His total receiving yards ranked No. 2 nationally, although he played three fewer games than the national leader, Coy Eakin of Stephenville, Texas. Sategna averaged more than 146 yards per game, compared with Eakin’s 133.

Fayetteville was rebounding from a 4-6 season in 2020, and Sategna had three games with more than 200 yards receiving and scored at least one touchdown in all 13 of the Bulldogs’ games. He caught nine passes for 185 yards in the state championship game Dec. 4, including a spectacular 50-yard touchdown grab. But the Bulldogs came up short, 42-38, to Bryant. Two weeks prior, he had 17 catches for 261 yards and a touchdown in a 34-27 quarterfinal win over Cabot.

“I’m proud of the season we had, but at the same time, I know we should have won state,” Sategna said. “At the beginning of the year, I knew that we had a state championship team. We were telling everybody, 'This is the year, we’re going to win state’, but nobody believed us. So, the fact that we went there and we had the chance to win, proved that we belonged. But it’s always going to be a hard feeling that we didn’t win it all.”

At Fayetteville, he was coached by former Arkansas quarterback Casey Dick, who knows it will be hard to replace such a talent, but also knows his prized pupil should transition well to the next level.

“He is just a hard worker that comes out and approaches every single day, trying to improve to be the best at what he does,” Dick said. “He’s a kid who makes everyone around him a better player and a better person, and his teammates just love him.”

Photo by Jimmy Jones

Photo by Jimmy Jones

Another coach who will sorely miss Sategna’s presence next year is Bulldogs track coach Drew Yoakum, who has led Fayetteville to the past five Class 5A state championships. He also acknowledges that the youngster is not just a great athlete, but also a true leader for others.

“He is just so self-driven at whatever he does,” said Yoakum, who has spent the past 20 years as the Bulldogs coach. “With his work ethic and his ability -- in football and track -- he wants to be the best. Practice is the key, and he puts that time and effort in for whatever he does. He continues to prepare for the next one. But his ability to do that also rubs off on those around him, pushing them to get better, and that’s what makes him so great.

“Our program was good when he got here, but he made us elite. And having that elite presence in your program pulls everyone else up another level. His expectations for himself are higher than most, so that motivates our other athletes to elevate their own expectations. It just takes a mindset and a desire to get to that point, and Isaiah has that.”

Sategna earned five individual state titles his sophomore year, his first year competing for Fayetteville, after moving from Austin, Texas. He set state records in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. After missing last season with an injury, he was determined to make a proverbial splash in his final meet.

“I didn’t put Isaiah in every event at every meet, although we could have with his ability,” Yoakum said. “But I didn’t think that was fair to him, with the wear and tear it would put on his body. But we did try to rest him throughout the year, so I could load him up with six events at the state meet.”

He definitely showed up at his final meet in Little Rock on May 6, winning four individual state titles and taking the 100 meters with a time of 11.06 seconds, the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.20 seconds, and the 300 hurdles with a time of 38.36 seconds.

But his highlight moment came in the long jump, where he soared 24 feet, 8 inches, to break the 31-year-old record of 24 feet, 3½ inches, set in 1991 by legendary Pine Bluff standout Basil Shabazz.

“It was definitely a blessing, because I was working hard all year to try to break that record, so I’m glad I got to break it at the state meet,” Sategna said. “It just proves that hard work pays off, which makes me want to work even harder.”

The first sport he played was baseball at the age of 4, and he dabbled in basketball and soccer, but he was born to compete in track and field.

Sategna’s father, Mario, was the national champion in the decathlon his senior season at LSU in 1996 and still holds the school record with 8,172 points. Sategna’s mother, Dahlia Duhaney Sategna, also ran at LSU and competed in the 1992 Tokyo Olympics for Jamaica on the 4x100 relay team. After winning the World Championships, Jamaica posted the fastest time in the Olympic preliminaries but was then dealt heartbreak in the finals when one of the teammates pulled a hamstring during the race. His older sister, Sydne Fowler, ran track at Texas.

“Of course, I think his parents have had a great influence,” Yoakum said. “Not only with training, but I think the biggest advantage he has is when he is in big meets, he doesn’t feel the pressure, because he’s been around it for so long.”

Mario was the head coach at Texas before moving the family to Fayetteville, where he was an assistant coach for the Arkansas track and field team in 2019-20.

“My parents were both college athletes, so it was just in my blood to do it,” he said with a smile. “They are still my biggest supporters, so they have helped me out a lot as far as what I need to do and preparing me for being a college athlete.”

He doesn’t quite know yet how the dynamics of being a two-sport athlete at the collegiate level will work, from a balance and time standpoint. But he has the desire and the skill to be successful at both. He is looking to follow in the footsteps of two of his favorite athletes: Marquise Goodwin, the former two-sport star at Texas who plays in the NFL and competed in the Olympics, and Devon Allen, who followed the same path out of the University of Oregon.

“It’s very, very cool to be able to compete in two sports at the Division I level. I have always looked up to people who have been able to do this,” Sategna said.

“It definitely starts with taking care of your body, putting in the right nutrients so you can stay healthy all year long. Because there really won’t be an offseason for me. The people who play just one sport usually have a long offseason to recover, but competing in both sports, I know I’m going to have to keep my body healthy.”

His short list of career goals is simple: make it to the NFL and participate in the Olympic games. For most, those goals might seem lofty, but for Sategna, it will likely just be another milestone.

“I always work hard to try to be the best at whatever I do,” Sategna said. “This is no different. I’ve set my goals. Now I have to go out and do whatever it takes to accomplish them.”