Burnham of Rio Mesa Wins National Honor as Athlete of Year

Angela Burnham of Rio Mesa High has been named the female high school athlete of the year by the national magazine Track and Field News.

Burnham scored 164 points in the balloting by track and field correspondents nationwide. She ranked first in the nation in both the 100 (11.28 seconds) and 200 (23.45) meters, earning All-American honors in both events.

“I’m very surprised with the award,” Burnham said. “I feel good about it, but I was shocked when they called and told me I had won.”

As a junior, Burnham won the 100 and 200 at the California state championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk in June, leading the Spartans to a share of the team title with Bakersfield.

She topped that performance with a national age-group record for 16-year-olds in the 100 with an 11.28 in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis in July, then placed sixth in the 100 at the World Junior championships in Sudbury, Canada.

Burnham, a semifinalist in the Olympic Trials’ 100, moved to third on the all-time high school list with her 11.28 clocking. Chandra Cheeseborough of Ribault High in Jacksonville, Fla., set the record (11.13) in 1976.

Former Taft High standout Quincy Watts, now at USC, also was selected as an All-American, ranking third in the 200 meters.

Watts, the nation’s top-ranked 100 and 200 sprinter as a junior, strained a hamstring midway through his senior season and finished second in both the City Section and state championships in the 200.