Burns repeats as Missouri's Gatorade T&F Player of the Year

The graduated senior was named the Missouri Track and Field Player of the Year in track and field by Gatorade, repeating an award he won last year.

He is the first Missourian on the boys' side to repeat as the Gatorade Player of the Year since Raytown South's Maurice Mitchell won three in a row from 2006-08.

Incidentally, on the girls' side, Raytown South's Zaya Akins was the first athlete to repeat since Alishea Usery, who did so in 2007-08.

Burns is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Track & Field Player of the Year award to be announced this month

The 6-foot-2, 160-pound senior broke one national record along with three state marks this past season, leading the Eagles to a state runner-up finish as a team in MSHSAA Class 3 finals. He won state titles in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs this spring, breaking the tape in 4:13.52 and 9:20.14, respectively.

Burns crossed the line with a time of 13:37.30 in the 5,000-meter event at the On Running Track Fest, breaking a national record that had stood for 19 years.

Less than a month later, he raced to the third fastest 2-mile in U.S. prep history when he clocked 8:34.33 to take second at the Brooks PR meet.

Burns has volunteered locally at a food bank and has served as a peer math tutor.

"Already one of just five prep boys in history to break the 4-minute-mile on multiple occasions, Connor Burns further solidified his place as an all-time elite performer by taking down (four-time Olympian and two-time medalist) Galen Rupp's long-standing 5000- meter national record," said Rich Gonzalez, editor of PrepCalTrack.com. "As a testament to his unprecedented range, Burns is the only high schooler to rank among the top 10 in history both indoors and outdoors in the mile, the 2- mile and the 5000. Simply remarkable."

Burns has maintained a 3.94 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to compete on an athletic scholarship at the University of Oregon this fall.