Shaina Burns Only Slows Down for Golf Carts

Shaina Burns wins the 100 Hurdles.
Photo by Gene Niemi

Most people would be fatigued by the amount of energy Lakeville South's Shaina Burns exerts simply getting to and from the multiple events in which she performs.  The added mileage doesn't seem to affect her, but the golf cart that almost ran into her on Saturday was a novelty, Burns said.  It jump started her adrenaline, she said, probably only half joking.

While other hurdlers were tumbling on Saturday's rain slicked track, Burns stayed upright and ran fast enough to win the 100 meter hurdles and take third in the 300 hurdles.  After the awards ceremony for the 300 hurdles Burns was hustling off to warm up for her final event of the day and her high school career, a 400 meter leg on the third place finishing 4 by 400 relay.

She'd been doing this multiple event marathon for "a third of my life," she said, which made it all the more rewarding when she was able to perform as well as she did at this year's State Meet.

After the relay awards ceremony, Burns was rumaging through her shoulder bag looking for the other medals she won at the MSHSL championships so she could wear them for the team trophy ceremony. She had to search the bag's side pocket that contained who knows how many recent medals she had won during past competition.  When asked how the day's inclement weather affected her, she said she viewed it as an advantage, not a hindrance.  Her way of dealing with it was to concentrate on the task at hand.  Focus on what she can control and not worry about extraneous issues, like the weather, knowing that others might be distracted by it.

On her way to victory in the 100 High Hurdles. Photo by Gene Niemi

She gets in a zone, she says, concentrating on her lane or her hurdles, and on executing the event whether it be jumping barriers, launching the shot on a slippery ring, or toting a batton around the track as fast as she can.  She becomes so tuned into the task, she says that it is when the race is over and the "blinders" come off that she realize what place she may have gotten. This has the added benefit of alleviating the potential pressure of wondering what her competitors may be doing and directs her energy toward what she wants to accomplish.

Being a member of a team and working toward the team goals is also an important  for Burns.  It's how she became a shot putter.  Lakeville South already had talented high jumpers, she said, but they needed a field event person, so she tried the shot put.  After adjusting to the event, she discovered that she was pretty good at it, winning a gold medal in it at this year at the State Meet,  The slippery ring, due to the rain, took some getting used to, Burns said, but once she'd acclimated to it, she was fine.

Headed for Texas A&M for college, they'll be little rest for her athletically.  While her high school career may be over, she's just entering her second season and will be competing in heptathlons over the summer. She's already been nationally ranked in that discipline among high schoolers and the heptathlon will become her event in college. It's not likely to be a major adjustment
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Best of all, says Burns, it will be a challenge.  "Giving a girl like me a challenge is kind of a dangerous thing to do."