Salute to Seniors: Jake Burch

What was you most memorable meet or race?

It's's a tie between Forest Park this year and the Simpson relays 3200 this year. In both races I broke pr's that had stood for nearly three years, and it was a huge relief to finally take them down.

Who was your biggest competition?

I've been lucky to have a lot of great races against the Festus guys, Andy and Tyler from St Gen, and the Potosi kids.

Out of all your high school accomplishments, which stands out the most?

I would have to say that my biggest accomplishment was making it to state this year in cross. Even though I didn't get all state like I wanted, it felt really good to have made it after all of the injuries and setbacks.

If you could do it all over again is there anything you would change?

If I could go back and do anything differently I would have better listened to my body when I was younger, it costed me like 2 years of my high school career.

What will you miss the most?

I will miss the miles run with friends and the great guys from other schools I got to compete against. I feel like there isn't too many sports where people from other schools cheer for you and genuinely want you to succeed. That's one of the things I love the most about running.

What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?

The most difficult obstacle I had to overcome was my stress fracture. I got it at the start of cross country my sophomore year and it sidelined me for essentially 2 years. But what was harder than that was stepping on the line and racing knowing that I wasn't in shape and performing poorly. It was a rough 2 years but it was worth it when I was finally able to train this year and compete at a high level

Do you have any advice for younger athletes?

My advice to younger athlete is to enjoy every day and not beat yourself up too much if things don't go your way. Also not to take anything for granted because it can be taken away from you in an instant.

What are your college plans?

I will be attending/running at Southwest Baptist University

Who would you like to thank?

I would like to thank coach stone for putting up with me during bad times and for teaching me about this great sport.

2013 College Commitments

<p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <em style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: invert none 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana;">Want to be featured in our Salute To Seniors series? &nbsp;Email PEverett@milesplit.com and answer the questions above! Congratulations to the seniors on all their hard work and success.</em><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana;">&nbsp;</span></p> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: Verdana;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> &nbsp;</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p> &nbsp;</p>