Burnham Previews a Coming Attraction

Angela Burnham of Rio Mesa High might have given spectators a glimpse of the future last Saturday.

That’s when she won the high school 400 meters in a national-leading time of 54.09 seconds at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in Walnut. Although the UCLA-bound senior is the defending state champion in the 100 and 200, her best race ultimately could be the 400, an event that tests a sprinter’s speed, endurance and strength.

“It’s a really tough race,” Rio Mesa co-Coach Brian FitzGerald said. “The bear usually waits right on the corner and jumps on your back as you enter the home straight.”

The bear is a track term for the fatigue that frequently accompanies a 400 runner in the last 100. Some days he feels heavier than others, but the bear is almost always there to some degree.

Burnham, however, tamed the bear at Mt. SAC as she hacked more than three seconds off her previous best and gunned down Cheryl Allen (54.40) of Edmonton, Canada, in the final 100.

“She held her form well in the home straight,” FitzGerald said. “She didn’t fall apart even though the Canadian girl had a one- or two-meter lead coming off the turn.”

“I just tried to relax in the the last 100,” Burnham said. “I felt pretty good.”

The time shocked Burnham, who entered the race hoping to better 57 seconds. But FitzGerald, who predicted a sub-55 performance two weeks earlier, was not surprised.

“I knew that she was capable of running that fast because we’ve been training for the 400 all season,” he said. “I think she’s capable of running under 54 right now if she got into the right race.

“She could run a lot faster if she had more experience in the 400. She doesn’t really know what she’s doing right now.”

Despite her emphasis on the 400 in training, Burnham’s 100 times have not suffered. She preceded her 400 victory at Mt. SAC with a national-leading 11.57 in the 100, well ahead of runner-up Karen Clarke (12.08) of Calgary, Canada.

After opening the season with an 11.84 victory in the Spartan Relays at Rio Mesa, Burnham, the third-fastest high school sprinter in history, ran 11.74 at the Alemany-Northridge Relays and 11.64 at the Arcadia Invitational.

Burnham also has run 23.63 in the 200 this season, .01 seconds behind Pasadena Muir’s Inger Miller, the national leader.

Miller was scheduled to meet Burnham at Mt. SAC in the 100 but withdrew because of muscle spasms in her right hamstring.

“I expected her to be in the race,” Burnham said. “But it didn’t bother me when she wasn’t because I wasn’t concentrating on the 100. I was really just using it as a warm-up for the 400.”

But Burnham will return to her specialties before the Southern Section 3-A Division finals next month.

“She’ll run in the 100, 200 and both relays,” FitzGerald said. “I don’t think it would be fair to Angela to ask her to run all three.”

FitzGerald’s decision not to put Burnham in three individual events was made easier by the recent improvement of teammates Shannon Wiebelhaus, Stacy Rosemeyer and Danielle Tanner, the other members of the Spartans’ 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams.

Wiebelhaus has run 45.44 in the 300-meter low hurdles, Rosemeyer 26.5 in the 200 and Tanner 59.3 in the 400 this season.

“With their improvement, we’re capable of placing in the top three or four at the state championships in both relays,” FitzGerald said. “So there’s no reason for Angela to triple. . . . I don’t want to burn her out during her senior season. I want to see her go on down the road and do some amazing things.”

And the 400 might be the race in which she accomplishes such things.