Sean Burke Leaves Legacy at Boston College

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Nearly a week ago, Sean Burke became the first Boston College student-athlete to earn All-America honors in men's outdoor track & field in two decades. He placed 16th overall in the NCAA 10,000m championship, clocking a time of 30:01.13.

The NCAA Championships are often regarded as the best annual track gathering in the world. Throughout the week at Mike A. Myers Stadium, located on the campus of the University of Texas, new collegiate standards were set and some of the best times in the world were posted.

The television commentators, including Olympians Dwight Stones and Dan O'Brien, lauded the weather conditions for the sprints - temperatures in the high 80's, with the heat index approaching triple-digits. Ideal for a trip down the back straightaway in the 100m, or the far turn for the 200m.

For 25 laps around in the 10k? That was a different story, one which Burke and head coach Matt Kerr offered a few more adjectives opposite of ideal.

"The race was brutal, the heat was absolutely suffocating," Burke recalled, "but everyone was dealing with the same conditions."

"Sean dug deep in extreme conditions; the entire field battled the heat and humidity," said Kerr.

Meet volunteers were stationed at the final turn and early into the race, cups and water could be seen flying through the air among the pack of 24 runners.

But the opportunity to race on college track's biggest stage inspired Burke, taking on the mantra of legendary track coach Bill Bowerman: "There is no such thing as bad weather."

"Going into the race I had the slowest PR out of the 24 people in the race, so there was not much to lose. I felt like I was still fresh and ready to race and it has been a very long season for most people. I believed I had an advantage there," Burke explained.

He kept his splits consistent early on, just over 70 seconds per lap to hit the mile at 4:42, the two-mile at 9:24, and the 5,000m around 14:45.

"I was feeling pretty good through 5k, but the pace was relatively quick for how hot it was," Burke said of the early pacing on the track. "After 5k it started to slow down and the field began to bunch up with only a few runners off of the main group.

Around 8k the pace started to pick up in the front pack and about 10 runners broke away. I was not able to stay with the front pack and was in a group of 3-4 for the last few laps."

After the lead pack broke away with a mile to go, Burke hung on for the final four laps, cementing himself further in the Boston College record book by earning All-America honors.

"To come away as BC's first All-American in over two decades was an accomplishment that is hard to describe," said Kerr. "Placing in the top-16 was a lofty goal, but one that Sean fought for every step of the way."

That same fight - one that Burke showed in his very first race as an Eagle in 2015 to this very night in Austin - was on full display.

"In terms of my season and career as a whole, it is everything I could have wanted. As someone who did not see much success in high school, running at the college level was never a given," Burke recalled. "Through consistent training I saw a lot of improvement from my freshman to senior year and I think that is really the story of my season as well."

Burke posted an outstanding season, one that Kerr quickly regards as one of the best by a BC distance runner in program history. He led BC at the conference championships, finishing fifth at the ACC Cross Country Championship, fourth in the 5,000m at the ACC Indoor meet, and third in the 10,000m at the ACC Outdoor Championship.

He became just the second Eagle to break the 14-minute barrier in the 5,000m outdoors, going for 13:59.61 at the Virginia Challenge on April 21 and posted the third-fastest 10,000m in BC history, clocking 29:11.68 at the Raleigh Relays on March 30. He earned his spot in the NCAA final thanks to his 12th place finish in the East Preliminary round in Jacksonville, Fla.

And on that steamy night in Austin just under a week ago, the Pleasanton, Calif. native became the 33rd Boston College All-American in program history. Of those 33 All-Americans indoors and outdoors, Burke is just the third BC distance runner to earn the honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championship.

"We could not be more proud of how Sean worked toward this moment, how he has led our team over his four years, and how he ended on such a high note as an All-American athlete for Boston College," Kerr concurred.

"I really enjoyed my time as an Eagle and it is something I will treasure for the rest of my life," Burke said. "It was such an honor to be a part of this team and I cannot wait to see what they accomplish in the future. It is bittersweet saying goodbye to this school and program, but I have had such a wonderful experience and would not change a thing about it."

Sean Burke Leaves Legacy at Boston College

Players Mentioned

Sean Burke

Players Mentioned

Sean Burke