When George Burhenn crossed the finish line in the 110-meter high hurdles at the IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals last month, he became the first-ever boys track and field state champion for Mt. Vernon High School.
He also became the first and only IHSAA state champion out of Hancock County for the 2022-23 school year.
His performance at the state finals, held at Indiana University’s Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex, was the culmination of a fantastic Marauder career for the Daily Reporter Boys Track Athlete of the Year.
Burhenn, along with winning the high hurdles, placed third in the 300 intermediate hurdles and was part of a fourth-place finish, with teammates Tre Jones, Tristan Trevino and Andres Langston, in the 4×400 relay.
He won county, conference, sectional and regional titles in all three events, too.
At state, the only race he didn’t set a school record in he won.
His time of 14.33 seconds in the high hurdles, was .04 seconds better than Fishers runner-up Tyler Tarter and just .02 slower than his school record of 14.31 ticks.
“I try to say it’s just another meet, but you don’t always get to run in front of this many people and this was my last time running hurdles, so I was wanting to have fun,” Burhenn said after his historic run.
His intermediate hurdles race finished in 38.75 seconds, and his group effort with Jones, Trevino and Langston was another record with a time of 3:17.57. Both broke records he and the quartet had already owned.
“I can’t really describe it,” Burhenn said — shortly after the relay — on his last day of competition as a high school student-athlete. “I basically had my PR (personal record) in all of my events, and barely missed it in the 110 hurdles, but I didn’t have wind this week. You can’t get much better than that. Our 4×4 team, we dropped two seconds from our PR and school record, so I can’t be mad (about fourth place) at all. I think it was just a great day for us.”
You truly can’t get much better than that.
“George ran a school record in the 300, almost a school record, with no wind, in the highs, and won the whole thing … Everybody did their best (in the relay),” Mt. Vernon coach Nick Clarkson said following the state meet. “No better way to end his career than as a state champion.”
The 6-foot, 5-inch 220-pounder is now off to begin his college football career at Purdue University, a program he has followed and rooted for as far back as he can remember. The Boilermakers recruited the Marauder standout as a tight end.
Along with being the first track and field state champion, Burhenn is rare state champion in two sports. He was a junior receiver on the Marauders Class 4A state championship football team in 2021. Burhenn had a first-quarter touchdown reception in the 45-14 win over Northridge.
But last month, in his final moments at a Marauder, it was his time to shine on the track.
“In all three events, I knew I’d be right in the mix,” Burhenn said of competing for state titles. “I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn’t know it’d be this hard. It was 90 degrees, all the sweat in my body is gone. After that second hurdle event I was beat.
“It shows what we do in practice every day. We work hard every day. We don’t take any days off and do what our coaches tell us. I think if we had fresh legs [Trevino and Langston had races earlier in the day, too] we would have had a sub 3:15. It is what it is. You can’t complain that we did well in other events.”
No, you can’t get much better than that.
–
2023 Daily Reporter Spring Sports Honors
Sport;Athlete of the Year;Coach of the Year
Girls tennis;Kylie Brandes, Mt. Vernon;Gabe Muterspaugh, Mt. Vernon
Girls track;Savannah Lake, Greenfield-Central;Brian Williams, Mt. Vernon
Girls field;Riley Nielsen, Mt. Vernon
Boys track;George Burhenn, Mt. Vernon;Nick Clarkson, Mt. Vernon
Boys field;Elliot Ryba, Greenfield-Central
Boys golf;Coming soon;Coming soon
Baseball;Coming soon;Coming soon
Softball;Coming soon;Coming soon
Boys volleyball;Coming soon
Note: The Daily Reporter selected one overall track and field coach of the year for girls and boys, but picked separate athletes of the year, one for track and one for field events.
