Burgess To Compete in National Cross-Country Championship For 2nd Consecutive Season

By Danielle Achin

***

[broadstreet zone=”53803″]

FRAMINGHAM – In his senior year of high school, Framingham High’s Sam Burgess has a lot to look forward to from graduation, committing to college, and of course, his anticipation of his national cross- country championship race in San Diego on Saturday, December 10.

Burgess has had a very gradual start to his running career. He began doing local 5k’s in 1st grade. It wasn’t until middle school when Burgess became serious about training.

“I saw myself start to seriously train in middle school with the McAuliffe team and Waltham track club, but I didn’t train at the level that I do now until high school. It’s just been a super gradual progression into running,” Burgess told SOURCE.

The national race is held in Balboa Park, San Diego, and Burgess is determined to improve from last year’s performance. He finished 29th as a junior.

“It means a lot to qualify to race in San Diego,” he said. “I raced there last year but didn’t quite have the race that I hoped for. I’m happy to go back and hopefully improve upon my performance from last year.”

[broadstreet zone=”56696″]

Burgess said this year, there will be 40 kids in the boys race and 40 kids in the girls race. There are four regional meets and they take the top 10 finishers at each regional meet.

Gearing up for the race, Burgess said he plans to lower the intensity of his training so his body can be well rested before race day. Between now and Saturday, Burgess said he is planning on one lighter workout and some easy runs.

He said whatever happens between now and the end of the race, as long as he gives it his all, he is proud of himself no matter what.

“Winning is the ultimate goal anytime I step on the line, but so long as I know that I left absolutely everything I have on the course, I’ll likely be satisfied with how I ran,” Burgess said.

[broadstreet zone=”59946″]

Danielle Achin is a fall 2022 SOURCE intern. She is a senior English major with a concentration in journalism and a minor in psychology at Framingham State University. Danielle has been an athlete since she started gymnastics at age 4. She joined the Framingham State cheerleading team freshman year and recently won the 2022 National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) National Championship for the first time in Framingham State history. She is also one of the Sports editors for Framingham State’s student newspaper The Gatepost.