Burke is just a freshman but made quite an impression while running the 400-meter dash and helping Hillsdale set a new conference record in the 4x400-meter relay at the GVSU Big Meet.
It was just Burke’s second attempt running the 400 in 2020-21 as he crossed the line in a time of 48.80 to finish fourth. Diving a little deeper, he was one of two freshmen in the field of 17 runners and the only ones to beat him were from Division I Eastern Michigan and Illinois State and one more from host GVSU.
While it was not quite a top-10 conference time in the record books, it was very close to a 47.97 needed to crack the list. And he figures to give Findlay star and incumbent favorite Xavier Marable (who recently competed in the American Track League in Arkansas) a really good race at the conference championships.
Burke was then part of the committee that brought down the 4x400 relay record previously held by Tiffin in 2020. In a provisional time of 3:14.98, it was Burke, Sean Fagan, Benu Mentijes and Ian Calvert, who are the new record holders.