The state’s returning Gatorade Player of the Year, the 6-foot-1, 140-pound senior raced to the Class 3 state championship this past season, winning by more than a minute to cap an unbeaten regular-season campaign. Burns was also the state’s fastest performer at the Nike Cross Midwest Regionals, clocking a personal-best 14:27.3 to qualify for nationals, where he finished 32nd. He won seven of the nine meets he entered last fall, including the El Caliente race at the prestigious Chile Pepper Festival in Arkansas.
Burns has maintained a 4.00 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to run on scholarship at the University of Oregon this fall.
Burns has volunteered locally at a food bank and is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at his school. He also served as class president as a junior.
