Track & Field: Track legend Doug Stewart to be honored before Rebel Relays

Trey Labat, The Advertiser, March 31, 2016

History is a strong part of any athletic program.

Acknowledging it helps not only to shed light on the men and women who came before us but also to remember how we got to where we are.

So for Teurlings track and field coach Jed Hebert, Friday’s Rebel Relay provided the perfect opportunity to honor one of the pillars of the Lafayette track community in former coach Doug Stewart.

When Stewart started at Teurlings, the Rebels were still training on a dirt field, but that didn’t stop him from winning a state championship in 1987 and forever leaving his mark on the young men and women whom he coached.

"We just wanted to do something because I don’t think he gets enough credit," Hebert said. "He’s all about the kids, so he wasn’t very excited about getting honored, but he meant a lot to so many people."

Stewart got his start under Jack Dale Delhomme at Fatima in 1979 and coached there until 1982. In that time he helped the Warriors win a state championship in cross country and track.

At Teurlings he coached one of the greats in Grady Labbe, who still holds track records at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Jeff Delhomme, who was a member of the 1987 state championship team.

"When he got to Teurlings, he started with cross country and started to create a cult in a good way," Jeff Delhomme said. "He was getting good people and turning them into better athletes. I started in junior high with him and to this day I think that 1987 team might have been the best track team of all time.

"It wasn’t just one or two people it was just a great overall group of guys and girls, and he taught us so much."

Delhomme said one of Stewarts’ best talents as a coach was bringing together a group of individuals in a largely individual sport and creating a team environment.

In a sport like track, that can often be a difficult feat.

"I know from experience, there are some really weird people in track, you kind of have to be wired a little differently to run the 200 or half mile flat out," Delhomme said. "But he related to people at a young age."

A student of the game, Stewart strove to learn everything he could about not only different training methods of running but also better techniques in the jumping competitions.

Delhomme credits Stewart with reworking his running mechanics to make him faster and finding tape of athletes from around the world to help improve his form.

"He would study Russian jumpers and get me tapes for me to study the triple jump," Delhomme said. "I remember coming home to my dad crying because he was trying to change the way I ran and making me slower.

"But he taught me how to run and it gave me extra benefits in football and was one of the big reasons I played in college. I turned in a great 40 time one day and I have to give him the credit for that."

Delhomme said he keeps up with the different training methods that are becoming common practice now with new coaches and trainers and said he remembers doing the same drills and training with Stewart in the 1980s.

"He knew the mechanics. He was self-taught. To this day I look at the different things people are doing and say, ‘I remember doing that in junior high,’" Delhomme said. "He was ahead of his time."

When Hebert approached Delhomme to be a part of the ceremony, Delhomme said he would do anything he could to help honor someone who was such a big influence in his life.

"It started with Jack Dale, and those are just two people who loved what they did. He was a leader, someone you wanted to follow and we benefited from the fruits of their labor," Delhomme said. "He is one of the best coaches I’ve been involved with in my life and I still pass along those techniques that he taught me."

Rebel Relays

What: Rebel Relays

Where: Teurlings Catholic

When: Friday. 3:30 p.m. Field events. 5:30 p.m. Running events

Who: Teurlings, St. Thomas More, Notre Dame, Vermilion Catholic, Opelousas Catholic, Catholic High-New Iberia, Westminster Christian

Who to Watch: Sparked by an upset in the 4×100 relay, TCHS surprised many by winning the boys title in the Beaver Club Relays at UL. The Rebels’ Brooks Hebert is also strong in the hurdles, joined by Tyler Batiste in the discus, Holland Griffin in the 400 (50.96) and Daniel McNair (800).

Also, STM has javelin leader Matthew Gardner (191-1), Andrew Ferguson (400), Charles Kreamer (1600), Ross Foreman (13-6 PV) and Matthew Gauthier (shot put).

Vermilion Catholic showcases sprinter Emile Trahan, while Notre Dame has Hayden Bourgeois (168-10) in the javelin.

Hurdler-long jumper Renee Delhomme, Mackenzie Marze (129-0 javelin) and Casey Potts (110-6 discus) lead the Teurlings girls.

Standout visitors include CHNI’s Reagann Leleux (12-0 pole vault), WCA’s Ivy Cains (15.75 100H, 50.37 300H), VC’s Jenna Istre (javelin), Notre Dame’s Grace Morgan (5-0 HJ) and STM’s Ashton Bourque (1:01.37 400), Gabby Deshotels (2:24.10 800) and Kelnisha Castille (1600, 3200).