State Champion Spotlight: Tanner Burton (Messalonskee HS)

For me, the preparations for states were not too far from my normal meet preparations. Two days before the meet I took an ice bath and then I spent my last practice before the meet doing dynamic and static stretches. The night before a meet I rolled out my legs and static stretched. I also visualized my race, both situations that are ideal and situations that are not. I tried to mentally prepare myself for any possible scenario that might happen during the meet.

Coming in I knew where I was seeded, both in the Class A meet and in Maine as a whole. I knew my competitors and what they were bringing to the table. I like pressure and attention, I like eyes on me. If anything the pressure built onto my confidence because I knew that I was the competitor others were worried about. That's probably what helped the most, realizing that I was the guy the others had to beat, versus in the past I was trying to chase down other competitors. 

I knew I had it, the race and the state title. I've always been a pretty energetic runner, you have to be to be a hurdler, and when I realized I had won I was overcome with that energy. Success isn't some predetermined thing, I knew that in that moment it was 100% me and nothing else.

Last outdoor season I had a chance to win the 110s and unfortunately I got sick and things didn't go my way. I was upset, so this was sort of my redemption and come back season. All my teammates knew that. We're all very close, whether it's the girls team or the boys team. Whether it's the distance runners, the sprinters, or the throwers, we're all so close that I think they knew how important the victory was for me. When I crossed the line we all exploded with that energy we have through those bonds of friendship. It was a special moment.

I've been to New England's before, both indoor and outdoor, it's an amazing experience, but the pressure for me was higher than ever. My sister qualified for Nationals in the 100 Butterfly in swim, so I felt like I needed to make an impact at New England's. I won't lie, my warm up was not my best, and that translated to my first race. I had a poor start and then I clattered hurdle two, I squeaked into finals by .004 seconds. I actually didn't think I made it at at all. After Coach Holman and I spoke, I got my bearings and remembered that in the hurdles anything can happen. With that in mind, I went into the race aiming to place. Once again, I had a bad start, but I knew I was still in it. I've said this all season, you can't worry about the other 7 guys, you can't control them, all you can do is run your race and run your time. At the end of the day nothing can help you after the gun goes, you're alone facing the five barriers. Coming off the last hurdle I could tell it was going to be close, I figured I had placed 6th. The third place finish was a surprise to me, especially because it was by .004 seconds again. 

My goals were to win KVAC as a team and individually in the hurdles, win the hurdles at states, place at New England's, and go 7.64 and qualify for nationals. I accomplished all but one of those goals and I can't be disappointed with that.

 

I'm ready. If I can stay healthy I'll be in the best position I've been in since sophomore year. Last season I got pneumonia, missed around four meets, and lost 30 pounds. At the outdoor state meet I weighed around 110 pounds and was not physically prepared or capable of running the gritty race I had to. This indoor season has proved to me that I can come back and still produce fast times. 

Yes, I will be competing in the ODAC in Virginia for Roanoke College. I'm excited to start my college career there and I hope I have solid success with the team and as an individual.