In the Long Run, Burks Would Rather Take the Shorter Way

For the last two years, Donovan Burks of Washington High in Los Angeles has made a name for himself with outstanding performances in the City Section track and field finals.

As a sophomore in 1988, Burks did not take long to impress, finishing second to teammate Bryan Bridgewater in the 100 meters and taking third in the 200 although he was later disqualified for running out of his lane. Last season, he proved it was not a fluke by sweeping the 100 and 200 meters.

This season, Burks is the runner everyone else is aiming for in Thursday’s City finals at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys.

In Thursday’s City semifinals, Burks won his heats in the 100 and 200 meters in 10.71 seconds and 21.59, respectively.

Even though he has lost in the 200 meters several times this spring, Burks is still the City’s top sprinter with an undefeated record in the 100 meters. He has impressive victories this season in the 100 against many of the Southern Section’s top runners at the Arcadia Invitational and Mt. San Antonio College Relays.

He has defeated Andre Green of Long Beach Poly, the Southern Section’s 4-A Division sprint champion; Erik Mitchell of Los Alamitos, the 3-A Division 200-meter champion and Kerry Lawyer of Santa Barbara, the 3-A Division 100-meter champion.

Burks’ best times have been 10.60 seconds in the 100 and 21.59 in the 200.

“The 100 is my favorite race,” said Burks, who will run for Washington State next season. “I do not have a very good start and I am usually playing catch-up all of the time, but the 100 is my best race.”

Burks is not sure why he is better in the shorter race despite his come-from-behind style of running, but he has a couple of theories.

“In the 200, I get tired and then I tense up,” Burks said. “I seem to try too hard to run fast in the 200 meters while I concentrate better in the 100.”

Burks has been a successful sprinter since the sixth grade, when he discovered he was the fastest runner in his class. Since then, he has always been considered fast, but he did not consistently win until he had a season of training with Bridgewater, who last Saturday won the state community college 200-meter championship running for Long Beach City College.

“As a freshman, I didn’t make it to the City finals running at the B level,” Burks said. “I really started to improve once I started to work out with Bryan.”

This season, Burks has taken over the role Bridgewater once had at Washington. With Burks as his team’s leader, the Generals have become the most impressive sprinting group in the City, also featuring Jason Goss, Sylvester Green and Charles Jordan. In last Thursday’s semifinals, Washington ran 41.07 in the 400-meter relay, falling short of its school record of 41.05.

“We are going to go for that (Washington’s school) record and the City record of 40.88 held by Taft (of Woodland Hills),” Burks said. “We have a great group of runners and if we get our handoffs better, we should get those records.”

They would also like to lead Washington to its second City team title in the past three years.

After eight hours of competition last Friday, the Southern Section divisional track and field meet will resume today at 3 p.m. at Cerritos College with the triple jump.

With 10 points for first place, eight for second, six for third, four for fourth, two for fifth and one for sixth, two boys’ team titles are left undetermined.

In the 4-A Division, Muir leads with 34 points, but does not have a triple jumper in the finals. Camarillo and Rialto Eisenhower are tied for second with 30 points, but like Muir, neither has a finalist in the triple jump. However, fourth-place Long Beach Poly and fifth-place San Clemente do have jumpers in the finals.

With 26 points, the Jackrabbits could win the team title if David Jackson, who was the eighth-best qualifier, finishes first in the triple jump. However, San Clemente, with 25 points, may have the best chance to move past Muir because the Tritons have Tony Robinson, the second-best qualifier, in the triple jump finals. A victory by Robinson would give San Clemente the team title.

Muir, which has won six boys’ team titles, is the leader despite the disqualification of sprinter Marquette Ennis in the 100 meters. Most of Muir’s points came in winning in the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relays, and Mike Sulcer’s victory in the 400 meters with a time of 48.53 seconds.

Scoring 20 of Long Beach Poly’s 26 points was sprinter Andre Green, who won the 100 and 200 meters in 10.79 and 21.27 respectively. Green also anchored the Jackrabbits’ fifth-place 400-meter relay team.

In the 3-A Division, Anaheim Esperanza has clinched at least a tie for its second consecutive team title. With 50 points, the Aztecs lead Santa Barbara by 10 points and have Clayton Tharrington in the triple jump finals. Santa Barbara has a slim chance to tie Esperanza with jumper Mike Thompson, but Tharrington was the event’s third-best qualifier ahead of Thompson, who was fourth.

In the 2-A Division, Lompoc has clinched the title with 46 points despite having only a five-point lead over Compton Centennial and a six-point lead over Arroyo Grande. Neither Centennial nor Arroyo Grande has a triple jump finalist.

The other boys’ divisional champion is Lompoc Cabrillo, which has 78 points in the 1-A Division. Led by Bobby Robinson’s victories in the long and high jumps, and Donald Willis’ victories in the shotput and discus, the Conquistadors scored 58 points in field events alone.

Whereas two boys’ team division winners are left undecided, all four girls’ division titles are clinched with Pasadena Muir winning its second consecutive 4-A Division title; Rio Mesa winning its first 3-A Division title; Inglewood Morningside winning its second 2-A Division title and Atascadero winning its first 1-A title.

Senior sprinter Inger Miller, who will attend USC next fall, accounted for a majority of Muir’s points by winning the 100 and 200 meters and anchoring the Mustangs’ winning 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams. Miller had the day’s fastest 100 with a time of 11.55 seconds. She also had the second-fastest 200 in 24.16. In total, Miller, who also won both sprints last season, accounted for 20 of Muir’s 83 points and had a key role in 20 more.

Muir, which has won four Southern Section girls’ team titles, also received points from sprinters Tamika Terry, who finished second in the 200 meters and third in the 100 meters, and Deanna Knowles, who finished fourth in the 100 and 200 meters. Providing additional points for the Mustangs were Rhonda Robinson’s third-place finish in the 800 meters and Akua Sutherland’s second-place finish in the 100-meter low hurdles.

After finishing runner-up in the 3-A Division last season and second to Hawthorne in the 4-A Division in 1988, Rio Mesa blew away its competition Friday. Led by freshman Marion Jones, who won the 100 (11.79) and 200 meters (24.02) and anchored the Spartans’ winning 400-meter relay and second-place 1,600 relay teams, the Spartans clinched the team title with 63 points.

Alycia Burnham, whose sister Angela won the state title in the 100 and 200 meters last season, won the 100 low hurdles for Rio Mesa in 14.66, and was second in the long jump at 17 feet 9 1/4 inches.

In clinching the 2-A Division title, Morningside scored points in almost every event with Santisha Arnold, Lisa Leslie and the 1,600-meter relay team providing the Monarchs’ with their only victories. Arnold won the 100 meters and finished second in the 200, and Leslie won the high jump and finished second in the long jump.

Defending 800-meter champion Kim Toney almost single-handedly won the 1-A Division title for Atascadero by scoring 26 points and assisting on 10 more. The Arizona State-bound Toney won the 400 and 800 meters; finished third in the 200 meters and anchored the Greyhounds winning 1,600-meter relay team.