Burnham Overcomes Fears by Overtaking the Competition

When Angela Burnham of Rio Mesa finished second in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the Arcadia Invitational two weeks ago, a lot of people asked, “Where did she come from?”

Many fans didn’t know much about the Oxnard native. She has been well-known to many track and field aficionados, however, for the past three years.

Since she won her first race at 11 in 1983, the 14-year-old freshman has experienced nothing but success in track and field.

In 1985, she set two national records for 12- and 13-year-olds in the 100- and 200-meter sprints with times of 12.0 and 24.9.

Despite the success, she did have some reservations before her first year of high school.

“I had done well in age group competition but I was still nervous about how I would compete against girls who were a lot older than me,” she said.

Judging by her 1986 performances, her worries are over. Competing against some of the finest sprinters in Southern California at Arcadia, she ran 12.36 in the 100 and a personal best of 24.61 in the 200. The times were even more impressive considering that they were both run into head winds and on a dirt track.

Hawthorne senior Tami Stiles, the national high school leader at 200 (23.56) meters in 1985, won both races in 12.23 and 24.46.

While discussing Arcadia, Burnham said that her times didn’t surprise her. Her placing, however, did.

“I was very happy with my races at Arcadia. The times didn’t surprise me; however, the second-places did. I expected a lot more girls to beat me.”

The soft-spoken athlete also anchored the Rio Mesa 400-meter relay team to a season best 49.16 clocking.

She hasn’t slowed down, either. Last Friday she placed second to Hueneme’s Simone Cain (12.13) in the 100 meters at the Ventura County Championships at Rio Mesa. Her time of 12.16 was a personal best. The fully-automatic time is equivalent to a hand-timed 11.9.

She later came back and won the 200 in 25.1.

While Burnham has already proven herself to be a national class prep sprinter, her coach, Brian Fitzgerald, doesn’t think she has come close to tapping her potential.

“She is incredibly gifted physically, but she can improve in some areas. Her start isn’t the greatest right now, and she could be stronger in the upper body. But she will improve a lot in the future. We’ll work on both of those areas,” he said.

“At Arcadia, she got left behind in the blocks. But her top speed is so fast that she was able to catch everyone but Stiles.”

Fitzgerald thinks Burnham’s best race is the 200, where her mediocre start isn’t as detrimental to her performance in that race. “In the 200, Angie has a longer distance to make up for her start,” he states.

Burnham also favors the 200 meter race. “I’ve always had my greatest success at that distance, so I like it the best,” she says with a smile.

While Burham is known primarily as a 100 and 200 meter sprinter, she also has personal bests of 58.6 in the 400 and 17-2 in the long jump. She doesn’t consider either event to be her specialty.

Fitzgerald believes that the 400 may be her best race eventually. “There are so many variables. However, with some upper body conditioning I think she could run a sub-55 second quarter before she graduates.”

Burnham said she no longer feels extra pressure to succeed.

“In the first couple of years, I did feel a lot of pressure,” she said. “I worried about people getting mad at me if I didn’t run well.

“However, I’ve gotten over that. Now I just try to run my race. I don’t worry about what other people think. That’s helped me to relax.”

Wednesday, she led undefeated Rio Mesa (7-0) to an easy 75-40 dual meet win over Santa Barbara. She won 100 yards in 11.1, the 220 in 25.8 and the 440 in 61.5.

On Friday and Saturday, she will again be exposed to top-flight competition at the Mount San Antonio Relays in Walnut.

She is entered in the 800-medley relay on Friday night and the 400-meter relay on Saturday. She will also run in the 200 meters on Saturday, an event in which Stiles is scheduled to race.

This time, however, Burnham knows where she belongs.

“At Arcadia I was surprised to be up there with the leaders. This time I feel I should be.”